Visitor Entrance

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what site investigation and surveys were undertaken by the House authorities prior to letting the contract for the visitor entrance.

Nick Harvey: Several site investigations and surveys were undertaken, during year 2004.
	 Dimensional Surveys
	These were carried out by Messrs Plowman Craven Associates.
	 Geotechnical and ground investigation surveys
	These were carried out by specialist company Messrs G B Geotechnics Ltd.
	 Archaeological surveys
	The Museum of London Archaeological Service (MOLAS) carried out a desk-top archaeological impact assessment and issued a report, this was later followed-up by maintaining a watching brief over the works during the course of construction in consultation with English Heritage.
	Prior to letting the main contract, MOLAS were also engaged in carrying out trial excavations and site investigation in conjunction with the structural engineers (Messrs TPS Consult) at each of the foundation bases for the access ramp and for the length of the service trench.

Visitor Entrance

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to his answer of 19 December 2006,  Official Report, column 1792W, on the visitor entrance, what extensions of time have been granted for bad weather.

Nick Harvey: No extensions of contract time have been granted for bad weather.

Visitor Entrance

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to his answer of 19 December 2006,  Official Report, column 1792W, on the visitor entrance, what the grounds were for the extension of time granted on the larger contract on 26 September 2006; and what additional costs are associated with this extension.

Nick Harvey: The quantity surveyors for the project, Messrs Harris and Porter, have estimated the costs for the five-week extension of time already granted at approximately £100,000 excluding VAT which is based on their judgment that a sum of £20,000 per week is reasonable. The contractor, Messrs Verry Construction Ltd., is claiming the sum of £46,000 for each week of the extension period granted.

Visitor Entrance

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to his answer of 19 December 2006,  Official Report, columns 1791-92W, on the visitor entrance, how many contracts were let for the visitor entrance; what the  (a) original budget price,  (b) contract sum and  (c) contingency sum in the contract was in each case; and what the latest forecast is of each contract.

Nick Harvey: The original budget price for the group of related projects stated in the business case for which the visitor reception building is part was £11,944,500 which includes estimated allowances for professional fees, provision of furniture, removals expense, main contract works, enabling works and VAT. The portion of this sum directly relating to the visitor reception building under construction on Cromwell Green is £8,687,500—the remaining sum further divides into £2,763,000 to cover the works associated with the reconstruction of the south steps within Westminster Hall and £494,000 to cover works associated with the renewal of roofing and building plant improvements associated with the Grand Committee Room, off Westminster Hall.
	In all, a total of 60 individual contracts have been placed for the visitor reception building—31 of these are for building works-related items, 23 are to defray consultant and specialist fee costs, two are for furnishing items and four are in connection with public information.
	The original contract sum for the main contract building works within Westminster Hall, to the Grand Committee Room and for the visitor reception building on Cromwell Green is £5,666,789 excluding VAT. Of this sum, £4,277,789 excluding VAT was for the visitor reception building.
	Contingency sums are not included within contracts. An overall risk allowance/optimism bias of £885,400 was included in the approved business case.

Water Usage

Paddy Tipping: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how much water is used on average each day on the House of Commons part of the Parliamentary Estate.

Nick Harvey: It is not possible to provide figures for the House of Commons alone for mains water. The amount of mains water used on the parliamentary estate in the first nine months of 2006-07 was 139,477 cu m, giving a daily average of 510 cu m.
	Portcullis House uses borehole water for cooling and flushing toilets. The amount of borehole water used in the first nine months of 2006-07 was 258,149 cu m giving a daily average of 943 cu m.

Al-Yamamah

Norman Baker: To ask the Solicitor-General what account the Attorney-General took of the fact that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) had not completed the process of assessing all the evidence in concluding that it was in the public interest not to proceed with the SFO investigation into BAE dealings with Saudi Arabia in respect of the Al Yamamah military equipment deal.

Mike O'Brien: The director of the Serious Fraud Office, not the Attorney-General, decided to discontinue the SFO investigation. I refer to my statement of 14 December 2006.

Annual Reports

Oliver Heald: To ask the Prime Minister pursuantto the answer of 15 January 2007,  Official Report, column 787W, on annual reports, what the reason is for the time taken to publish the 2005 reports of the Interception of Communications Commissioner and the Intelligence Service Commissioners; and if he will undertake to publish them within 28 days.

Tony Blair: I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave the hon. Member on 15 January 2007,  Official Report, column 787W.

Chequers Grant

Oliver Heald: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  what the value of the annual government grant given to Chequers was in 2005-06;
	(2)  what the value of the government contribution to the cost of household staff at Chequers, net of VAT refunds, was in 2005-06.

Tony Blair: Chequers was established under the Chequers Estate Acts 1917 and 1958 and is administered by independent trustees who receive an annual grant from public funds towards its maintenance and to cover civilian staff employed at Chequers in accordance with the Acts. Chequers is a grade 1 listed building which the Trustees have a legal obligation to maintain in good repair.
	The grant for 2005-06 was £900,000, which covered such major expenditure items as upgrading staff accommodation, renewing leaking underground pipes, relaying paving and driveways, and urgent repairs to brickwork and estate fencing.
	In addition, as has been the practice under successive Prime Ministers, the Government also pays for military staff stationed at Chequers, whose numbers have decreased since 1997. The cost for 2005-06 (net of VAT refunds) was £148,571. The cost in 1997 (net of VAT refunds) was £215,191.

Afghanistan and Iraq Road Accidents

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many  (a) deaths and  (b) non-fatal injuries caused by road traffic accidents there have been to UK troops while serving in (i) Afghanistan and (ii) Iraq since 11 September 2001.

Derek Twigg: As at 16 January 2007; three British Forces personnel have died from injuries sustained during road traffic accidents (RTAs) while serving on Operation Herrick in Afghanistan, since the start of operations in November 2001; 14 British Armed Forces personnel have died from injuries sustained during RTAs while serving on Operation Telic in Iraq since the start of operations in March 2003.
	Improvements were made to the casualty reporting process in January 2006 which mean figures can be given for numbers injured in RTAs since that date.
	Between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2006, the latest date for which verified and validated figures are held; seven British Forces personnel sustained non-fatal injuries as a result of RTAs while serving on Operation Herrick; 15 British Forces personnel sustained non-fatal injuries as a result of road traffic accidents while serving on Operation Telic.
	Between 11 September 2001 and the start of the campaigns no UK troops died or sustained injuries as a result of road traffic accidents in either Afghanistan or Iraq.

Correspondence

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many letters to his Department sent from hon. Members during Session 2005-06 remain unanswered, broken down by those which are  (a) one,  (b) two,  (c) three,  (d) four and  (e) over six months old;
	(2)  how many letters were received by his Department from hon. Members in each of the last12 months; how many such letters were responded to within  (a) 10 and  (b) 20 days of receipt; how many were answered after 20 days from the date of receipt; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: The Department records letters sent by its Ministers as ministerial correspondence and makes no distinction between those sent in response to letters from hon. Members, Peers, Members of the European Parliament, Members of the devolved legislatures or members of the public. None of the ministerial correspondence processed in 2005 remains unanswered. As at 26 January 2007, of that processed in 2006, 373 remained unanswered—of which  (a) 149 were one,  (b) 75 were two,  (c) 85 were three,  (d) 38 were four, and  (e) 26 were over six months old.
	The following table details the volume of ministerial correspondence received by MOD Ministers in each month of calendar year 2006:
	
		
			  2006  Number 
			 January 575 
			 February 602 
			 March 739 
			 April 694 
			 May 579 
			 June 537 
			 July 582 
			 August 498 
			 September 549 
			 October 668 
			 November 604 
			 December 374 
		
	
	The Department monitors performance against its target for answering ministerial correspondence of within 15 working days. The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of departments in replying to Members/ Peers correspondence. The report for 2005 was published on 30 March 2006,  Official Report, columns 75-78WS. Information relating to 2006 is currently being collated and will be published as soon as it is ready.

Departmental Vetting

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps are taken at the level of basic vetting for employment to ensure that his departmental staff have not adopted a false identity.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 23 January 2007
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by Mr. Watson on 5 July 2006,  Official Report, column 1103W, to the hon. Member for Isle of Wight (Mr. Turner).

Devonport Dockyard

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on recent discussions with Kellogg Brown and Root about future investment in Devonport Dockyard.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 24 January 2007
	Devonport Royal Dockyard, which is owned and operated by Devonport Management Limited (DML), undertakes refit, maintenance and disposal of the Royal Navy's nuclear submarines, including the re-fuelling and de-fuelling the Vanguard Class submarines.
	The Dockyard has unique skills and facilities that are essential for this task and which play a direct role in maintaining the UK's nuclear deterrent. The security of these strategic assets is an absolute priority for the UK. The Ministry of Defence must ensure that whoever has control of them has the competence and resources to manage them as well as investing in their future. The Ministry of Defence is in active discussion with the DML shareholders, including KBR, about appropriate ownership and management arrangements for the future of the enterprise.

Information Infrastructure Contract

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what criteria the Atlas Consortium were required to meet during Increment 1 of the Defence Information Infrastructure contract in order to be automatically awarded the Increment 2a contract; and whether his Department was satisfied that those criteria were met.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 19 January 2007
	The original DII(F) contract presumes that subsequent increments will be carried out by the ATLAS consortium subject to a number of criteria being satisfied. These criteria include both strategic considerations (such as benefit to MOD and confidence in the ability to deliver the future work package) and local considerations (such as performance on earlier work of a similar nature). Increment 2a was an amendment to the original contract and therefore was not an "automatic award".
	Evaluation of performance was carried out on a regular basis during Increment 1 with further, more detailed, reviews prior to the Increment 2a contract amendment. The review process included senior management discussion of the most important criteria. The criteria to be satisfied covered: Ability to meet the requirement;
	Value for money;
	Delivery of Increment 1 against plan;
	Support of all systems under ATLAS management control and service delivery;
	Service build quality;
	Support for business applications on DII(F);
	Affordability of the solution.
	Having reviewed performance against the criteria, the Department was satisfied that there was sufficient evidence to support a decision to allow ATLAS to start work on Increment 2a of the DII(F) programme.

Service Personnel: Medical Conditions

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many  (a) regular servicemen and  (b) reserve servicemen have been assessed on return from theatre in Iraq and Afghanistan as having psychiatric problems;
	(2)  how many  (a) servicemen and  (b) reserve servicemen returned from (i) Iraq and (ii) Afghanistan after active duty with (A) a mental health problem and (B) post-traumatic stress disorder in each year since 2003.

Derek Twigg: The following table shows the annual numbers of UK service personnel (regular and reservists) who deployed to Iraq on Operation Telic and were diagnosed by the Defence Medical Services at a Department of Community Mental Health (DCMH) with a mental health condition thought to be related to their deployment. It is not possible to give an annual breakdown of the figures for 2003 and 2004, nor do we differentiate between regulars and reserves.
	
		
			   2003-04  2005  2006 (to 30 June)  Total 
			 PTSD 93 115 70 278 
			 Adjustment disorder 438 258 133 829 
			 Mood disorder 113 157 71 341 
			 Neurotic disorders 87 76 23 186 
			 Psychoactive substance misuse 55 72 39 166 
			 Other diagnoses 38 39 20 97 
			 Total 824 714 356 1,897 
		
	
	The figures do not include any personnel who have received treatment for a mental health condition since leaving the armed forces. This is because on leaving the armed forces, or on demobilisation for reservists, it is the long established practice that responsibility for medical care passes to the NHS. To collate figures on medical treatment received by every veteran would require an examination of the records of every NHS trust (and every independent healthcare provider) in the country and could therefore be done only at disproportionate cost.
	We currently only collate these figures for Iraq. However, at a time when personnel have been deployed to other operational theatres before or after deployment to Iraq (including to Afghanistan), it is becoming increasingly difficult to attribute a subsequent mental health condition (which in some cases might not present itself until some time after the person's deployment ends) to service on a specific deployment. The Department is currently, therefore, reviewing its methods of collating figures on service personnel diagnosed with a mental health condition. I will write to the hon. Gentleman when the work is complete.
	Finally, as I announced in this House on20 November 2006, the MOD's Reserves Mental Health Programme has since that date been providing an assessment and treatment programme for demobilised reservists at the Reserve Training and Mobilisation Centre (RTMC), Chilwell. The numbers of reservists, GPs or third parties contacting RTMC has been very low. As at 19 January 2007, a total of seven assessments had been booked, and, of those assessed so far, two cases referred for treatment at one of MOD's Defence Community Mental Health centres.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects the order on the 42 days pre-movement testing for TB to come into effect; whether the order applies to all cattle inspections; what consultation took place with the industry prior to the order's introduction; what the objectives of the order are; and what plans there are  (a) to review its implementation and  (b) to assess its efficacy and proportionality.

Ben Bradshaw: Statutory pre-movement testing was introduced in March 2006 for cattle over 15 months old moving from high risk herds. Legislation extends this to cattle over 42 days old on 1 March 2007.
	The purpose of pre-movement testing is to reduce the risk of the spread of bovine tuberculosis (TB) through movements of cattle, both within regions of England where disease is endemic and particularly to areas that are currently free of disease.
	There was a public consultation in 2004 on options for preventing the spread of TB through cattle movements. Following that, an independent group of interested parties developed a detailed proposal and their report was published in April 2005. The TB Advisory Group presented their report on pre-movement testing in January.
	Most recently, pre-movement testing was considered by the Ministerial Challenge Panel for Regulation. They agreed that, in light of the best evidence currently available, extension of the pre-movement testing policy to younger animals should proceed on 1 March as planned.
	The panel confirmed that the operation of the policy would be kept under review and that a formal review of the policy would be initiated after March 2008.

Cost Sharing

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the objectives are of the cost sharing of crop and animal diseases.

Ben Bradshaw: The overriding objective of cost sharing in relation to the livestock sector is to achieve better management of animal disease risks, through better policy making, so that the overall risks and costs are reduced. Responsibility sharing will provide opportunities for improved regulation and a reduction in the regulatory burden in future. The Government will benefit from increased industry involvement in decision making which should mean a greater ability to respond and deliver outcomes more effectively and efficiently. Defra is currently consulting on the principles which should underpin the development of this partnership approach.
	The position in relation to crop diseases is the subject of a parallel programme of work. The Government and industry have jointly funded an independent study of options for responsibility and cost sharing in relation to plant health controls to help inform the development of future policy. The study is due to report its findings at the end of June. The overall aim of this work is to identify measures which would improve the overall management of plant pest and disease risks through partnership working.

Landfill

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the application in two tier local authorities of fines under the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme.

Ben Bradshaw: All waste disposal authorities in England met their obligations in 2005-06 to landfill within the limits of their allowances. No penalties have been imposed under the Landfill Allowances Trading Scheme. Only waste disposal authorities are liable to any penalties arising from transgression of the Scheme's rules.

Programme Expenditure: Canterbury

Julian Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much  (a) the Environment Agency and  (b) English Nature spent on programme expenditure in Canterbury local authority area in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Barry Gardiner: The Southern Region of the Environment Agency covers most of the geographical areas of Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and records its expenditure in relation to those areas. Expenditure is recorded within an area by technical or operation teams that have specific operational boundaries that normally relate to river catchments and covers a number of functions. Therefore the information is not available in the form specified in the question.
	However, some examples of flood risk management and water resources spend are available.
	Expenditure on Flood Risk Management is recorded for each flood risk system. These systems cross local authority boundaries. Expenditure for the Canterbury area for 2006-07 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Amount (£) 
			 Canterbury 38,950 
			 Bridge to Grove Ferry 18,800 
			 Northern Seawall 37,270 
			 Whitstable 402,000 
			 Graveney 127,000 
		
	
	This expenditure does not include staff costs.
	Water Resources programmed expenditure within the district council for 2006-07 is as follows. These are only indicative costs, as the Water Resources' work programme is not delivered according to district council boundaries.
	
		
			   Amount (£) 
			 Water Resource Management 20,000 
			 Licence compliance 7,000 
			 Licence determination 7,000 
			 Hydrometric monitoring 35,000 
		
	
	English Nature's finance systems did not permit the recording of expenditure by local authority area and therefore this information is not available.

Rats

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of trends in the rat population.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to thereply given on 23 January 2007,  Official Report, column 1641W.

Tuberculosis: Deer

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of TB in the deer population; and what action he is taking to tackle the disease.

Ben Bradshaw: Assessment of bTB in the deer population has been the subject of Defra commissioned research by the Central Science Laboratory (CSL). They identified four species of wild deer infected with the disease:
	roe deer (1.0 per cent. of 885 tested);
	red deer (1.0 per cent. of 196);
	fallow deer (4.4 per cent. of 504); and
	muntjac (5.2 per cent. of 58).
	Subsequent qualitative risk assessments carried out by CSL and Risk Solutions suggested that the contribution of wild deer to cattle infection is small (less than 5 per cent.), but that more data was needed to enable firmer conclusions to be drawn. Therefore Defra is currently carrying out detailed research into the disease prevalence and density of deer species in areas of high cattle incidence through a sampling survey.
	Under the Tuberculosis (Deer) Order 1989 (as amended), suspicion of TB in any deer (or their carcases), whether farmed, park or wild must be notified to the relevant Divisional Veterinary Manager of the State Veterinary Service. Surveillance of bTB in deer is largely based on detection of visible lesions at post-mortem inspection carried out by the Meat Hygiene Service on farmed deer and wild/park deer destined for export.

Alternative Energy Funds

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made on the establishment of a World Bank fund for developing countries to invest in alternative energy funds.

Hilary Benn: At the Gleneagles summit in 2005, the UK secured G8 agreement that the World Bank should lead on establishing a new Clean Energy Investment Framework (CEIF) that would operate across the international financing system. The aim of this framework is to accelerate and catalyse public and private sector investments in cleaner energy in developing countries.
	The first phase of this work was discussed at the World Bank's Annual Meetings in September 2006. Countries broadly supported the approach put forward, and asked the Bank to continue work on exploring financial options to support clean energy investments.
	The second phase in developing the CEIF will be carried out before the G8 summit in 2008. Engaging the private sector in this work is a key priority going forward. In November 2006, the Chancellor, with the Presidents of the World Bank and the four leading regional development banks, announced a partnership with the World Economic Forum and the World Business Council on Sustainable Development. The purpose of this partnership is to explore how to stimulate private sector investment through the Clean Energy Investment Framework. A conference will be held in London in March 2007 to launch this work.
	In parallel, the Multilateral Development Banks have looked for ways to take forward this work. The Asian Development Bank launched an Energy Efficiency Initiative, with an annual target of providing $1 billion assistance for clean energy projects. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development launched the Sustainable Energy Initiative last year which aims to leverage €5 billion of investment in cleaner energy over the next five years. The World Bank has sought to maximise their existing resources to support clean energy investments, in line with another element of the Gleneagles agreement. A recent World Bank report shows that in 2006 the Bank increased the financing of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects by 45 per cent. to a total of $668 million, exceeding the 20 per cent. annual increase target set in 2004.
	The UK has committed over £15 million to the CEIF so far, including £3 million for technical support in developing the CEIF and supporting discussions in developing countries; £10 million to fund posts and programme budgets across the multilateral development banks and UNDP over the next three years; and£3 million to the EBRD's Sustainable Energy Initiative. The UK has also announced support for one of the first projects to be developed under the CEIF framework—an investment in wind power in Mexico.

Development Aid

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of Statefor International Development which Government spending, other than from the Department for International Development (DfID), is counted as Official Development Aid (ODA), broken down by Department or agency; and what proportion of total ODA came from non-DfID Government sources in each year since 2001.

Hilary Benn: holding answer 29 January 2007
	The following table sets out the breakdown of non-DfID Official Development Assistance (ODA), where possible the Department or agency has been stated however, detailed information on contributing Departments is not stored on our systems, for example, UN Contributions from other Government Departments is collected by the FCO but includes spending by FCO and DEFRA, DTI and other Government Departments.
	
		
			  UK ODA by other Government Departments—non DFID ODA expressed as a percentage of total UK ODA 
			  Other ODA  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 Total UK ODA (£000) 3,179,193 3,282,073 3,847,183 4,301,584 5,923,070 
			   
			  Non-DFID ODA  
			 Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD) Debt Relief (£000) 242,097 392,878 33,336 378,094 1,906,614 
			 Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) (£000) 10,743 10,753 44,773 80,081 54,613 
			 FCO and Home Office Drug Related Assistance (£000) 7,294 9,172 9,029 4,630 12,342 
			 UN Contribution from Other Government Departments (£000) 24,594 22,008 22,318 20,587 24,321 
			 HM Treasury (HMT) (£000) 48,571 60,009 78,992 84,250 90,208 
			 CDC Group (£000) 22,069 134,911 233,219 117,083 -11,884 
			 British Council (£000) 30,000 30,000 30,000 30,000 30,000 
			 Scottish Executive (£000) — — — — 1,884 
			   
			 Total non-DFID ODA (£000) 385,368 659,731 451,668 714,725 2,121,410 
			   
			 Non-DFID ODA as a percentage of total ODA 12.12 20.10 11.74 16.62 35.82 
			  Notes: 1. ECGD debt relief figures include Toronto, Trinidad and Naples terms. 2. FCO figures include FCO aid administration costs, FCO contributions to programmes including Global Conflict Pools and FCO contributions to Commonwealth Organisations. 3. No further breakdown is available on our systems for UN contributions from other Government Departments. The total figures are provided by the FCO. 4. HMT figures include support to non-Government organisations in the form of gift aid and EC administration costs. 5. CDC figures include the purchase and sale of equities and investments, debt relief and administration costs.

Global Purchase Fund

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much Government funding has been allocated to the Global Purchase Fund for the development of affordable treatments of disease announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2001.

Gareth Thomas: The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) was established in 2002 to help countries combat these diseases which kill over six million people each year. To date, the GFATM has committed US$ 7 billion in 136 countries to support interventions against all three diseases. The UK is a strong supporter of the Global Fund, and we are committed to making it work even better and to ensuring the global response to AIDS, TB and Malaria is improved. We have pledged £359 million to the Global Fund since 2002, including commitments of £100m in 2006 and, subject to performance, in 2007.

Plan for Africa

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much Government funding has been allocated to help finance African countries' 10-year education plans to be produced as a result of the Gleneagles Implementation Plan for Africa.

Hilary Benn: The Government have pledged £8.5 billion over the next 10 years in order to support the efforts of developing countries to reach the Millennium Development Goal of getting all children into school by 2015. Most of the African countries in which we provide support for education are in the process of developing or up-dating their 10-year education plans to achieve this target. So far DFID has signed 10-year agreements with Ghana (£106 million 2006-15) and Mozambique (£150 million 2007-16).

Tanzania

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid the UKgave  (a) bilaterally and  (b) through multilateral institutions, broken down by institution, to Tanzania in 2005-06; and what form the bilateral aid took.

Hilary Benn: UK bilateral development assistance to Tanzania in 2005-06 was as follows:
	
		
			   £ GBP million 
			 General poverty reduction budget support 85.00 
			 Other financial aid 15.384 
			 Technical cooperation 2.076 
			 Grants and aid in kind 7.166 
			 Humanitarian assistance 0.5 
			 Total DFID debt relief 2.44 
			 Total bilateral programme 112.566 
			 Aid from other UK official sources 1.572 
			 Total bilateral gross public expenditure 114.138 
		
	
	Multilateral shares are reported by calendar year and the latest available figures for 2004 are as follows:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 EC 16.2 
			 Other 3.9 
			 UN 1.3 
			 World Bank 4.1 
			 Total 25.5 
			  Source:  Statistics for Development 2001-02 to 2005-06, available at: www.dfid.gov.uk

Zimbabwe

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to reduce infant mortality in Zimbabwe.

Hilary Benn: The infant mortality rate in Zimbabwe is currently 60 per 1,000 live births. Five years ago it was 37 per 1,000 live births. Almost 40 per cent. of infant deaths occur in the first month after birth. DFID has committed £25 million to a programme to reduce maternal and infant mortality. This programme aims to improve access to lifesaving obstetric and newborn care, especially those affected by HIV and AIDS, and to maintain access to family planning services, including secure provision of contraceptives. DFID has also provided UNICEF with over £2 million to support the national vaccination programme to decrease the number of vaccine preventable deaths among children.

Zimbabwe

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of  (a) life expectancy and  (b) child mortality rates in Zimbabwe in (i) 2001 and (ii) 2006.

Hilary Benn: The World Health Organisation estimated life expectancy in Zimbabwe in 2006 as37 years for men and 34 years for women, compared with 42.9 years (overall average) cited in the UN Human Development Report for 2001.
	The child mortality rate (age 12 months to four years) was most recently estimated at 24 per 1,000 live children (preliminary results of the Demographic Health Survey, 2005-2006). Five years ago this ratewas 17 per 1,000 live children suggesting that child mortality is rapidly worsening in Zimbabwe. The overall mortality rate for children under five years is82 per 1,000 compared with 54 per 1,000 five years ago.

Digital Switchover

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the merits of enabling social services, children's services or health professionals to make referrals of households to the targeted help scheme for digital switchover; and whether the identification in this way of vulnerable people who should receive help under the scheme will be allowed.

Shaun Woodward: Help will go to those aged 75 or over, or who have a serious disability (defined as being in receipt of disability living allowance, attendance allowance or registered blind and partially sighted).
	Our research showed that older pensioners and disabled people would have the most difficulty during digital switchover which is why we have targeted help on these groups, focusing on installation and use.
	People not eligible for the scheme will still have access to help and advice from Digital UK. Together with Digital UK we are working with charities and other key stakeholders to ensure that hard to reach groups get the support they need.

Digital Switchover

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what provisions have been made to facilitate digital switchover in North East Fife; and if she will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: holding answer 29 January 2007
	Between now and Switchover, DigitalUK will communicate with every TV viewing household in North East Fife to ensure they can prepare for the change. 9,000 households in North East Fife will qualify for assistance under the Help Scheme.

Elite Sports

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funding is available for elite sportsmen and sportswomen preparing for the  (a) Beijing and  (b) London Olympic games.

Tessa Jowell: For the Beijing Olympic 'cycle' (2005-09) UK Sport, the Government's lead agencyfor high performance sport, will make a total of£215.4 million available for all aspects of the training and preparation of elite athletes on its World Class Talent, World Class Development and World Class Podium Programmes, which are collectively known as the World Class Performance Pathway (WCPP). Of this figure, £191.9 million will be invested in summer Olympic sports, and £23.5 million will be invested in summer Paralympic sports.
	The funding available for the London Olympic 'cycle' will not be finalised until after the completion of the Beijing games. However in its submission to Government for additional funding for the London Olympic and Paralympic games, UK Sport anticipated investing around £400 million in its WCPP between 2009-13.

Free Television Licences

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people in Hemsworth constituency received a free television licence in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Shaun Woodward: TV Licensing, who administer free television licences for people aged 75 or over as agents for the BBC, are not able to provide geographical breakdowns of the number of free licences issued. However, the number of households with at leastone person aged 75 or over claiming the winter fuel payment in the Hemsworth constituency in 2005-06 was 5,080, according to Department for Work and Pensions records.

Gambling

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment her Department has made of the extent of the availability of dedicated treatment, counselling and advice for problem gamblers; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: Any person who seeks help from the NHS for a gambling problem will be offered support, and if necessary, treatment to help them overcome their addiction. There are also a number of specialised addiction services outside the NHS, some of which are dedicated to the prevention of problem gambling and treatment of problem gamblers. The charity GamCare, runs a 24-hour helpline and provides face-to-face counselling. Its services are open to all problem gamblers, and makes special provision for women, such as female only group counselling.

Gambling

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions her Department has held with the Department of Health about gambling addiction; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: My Department has regular discussions with the Department of Health on a number ofissues including joint action on tackling gambling addiction.

Gambling

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate her Department has made of the prevalence of gambling addiction; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: The current estimate is that 0.6 per cent. of the adult population of Great Britain are problem gamblers. This figure is drawn from the most recent authoritative research: Kerry Sproston, Bob Erens and Jim Orford (2000): "Gambling Behaviour in Britain: Results from the British Gambling Prevalence Study" (National Centre for Social Research, June 2000).

Gambling

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether her Department is planning an awareness campaign highlighting the problem of gambling addiction prior to implementation of the Gambling Act 2005; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: We work closely with the Responsibility in Gambling Trust (RIGT), which is funded by the gambling industry to raise awareness about problem gambling, to commission treatment, prevention and education, and research into problem gambling. I understand the trust intends to raise the public awareness of problem gambling in a number of ways over the coming months, and we will continue to support them in that aim.
	The trust has brought together the Gambling Commission, Department of Health, DCMS, academics, industry and GamCare to help advise on a campaign which will start this year with two objectives: first, to let the public know where it can access help services and second, to let the public have well publicised access to information on how to make informed consumer choices an avoid developing gambling addictions.

Olympics 2012

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she expects to name regional training facilities for the 2012 Olympics.

Richard Caborn: Responsibility for coordinating training camps lies with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG).
	LOCOG is putting together a 'Pre Games Training Camp Guide' in which facilities in the UK thathave been selected as providing a suitable training environment, are listed by location and by sport.
	LOCOG have released details on their website, inviting expressions of interest from potential host facilities. Applications can be made on the London 2012 website:
	www.london2012.com/trainingcamps.
	Submissions must be made by 31 January 2007. Applications will initially be assessed locally with selection coordinated by each nation and region. A proposed list of facilities will then be submitted to LOCOG for final selection. This guide will be the primary means of informing National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) when choosing where to stage their pre-Games preparation camps for 2012. The guide will be distributed to NOCs and NPCs in July 2008.
	It will ultimately be the choice of individual NOCs and NPCs as to whether they want to stage pre-training camps for their athletes, and where those training camps will be.

Olympics 2012

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when the revised Olympic budget will be published; and if she will make a statement.

Tessa Jowell: holding answer 29 January 2007
	The budget for the Olympic Delivery Authority for thenext financial year will be finalised in March. The overall budget is currently under discussion within Government and with other stakeholders and will be published in due course.

Tourism

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of tourist visits abroad made by UK nationals in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 30 January 2007:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning the number of trips abroad made by UK nationals in each year since 1997. (111874)
	Visits made abroad by UK residents are estimated from data collected on the International Passenger Survey (IPS). The survey is conducted at all major airports, and on major sea and tunnel routes. The data collected are weighted up to national estimates provided by CAA and BAA, Department for Transport, Eurotunnel and Eurostar. Note that it is normal for the IPS to quote results about UK residents (as published) rather than nationals.
	
		
			  Number of visits by UK residents abroad, 1997 to 2005 
			   Visits (Thousand) 
			 1997 45,957 
			 1998 50,872 
			 1999 53,881 
			 2000 56,837 
			 2001 58,281 
			 2002 59,377 
			 2003 61,424 
			 2004 64,194 
			 2005 66,441 
		
	
	Provisional figures for 2006 will be available from7th February 2007.

Advertising

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much her Department spent on advertising with The Guardian newspaper, including online, in the last year for which figures are available.

Geoff Hoon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office spent a total of £3,123.15 on advertising with  The Guardian newspaper in financial year 2005-06.

EU: Migration and Refugees

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the legal base is for budgeted EU expenditure of €9,900,000 in 2007 on the European Agency for the Management of Operational Co-operation at the External Border.

Liam Byrne: I have been asked to reply.
	The European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Bordersof the member states of the European Union (FRONTEX) was established by Council regulation (EC) No 2007/2004; its legal basis is articles 62(2)(a) and 66 of the treaty establishing the European Community. The budget for 2007 is €35 million of which €4.3 million has been put into reserve.

Lebanon

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with the Lebanese Government on securing the release of Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev and Gilad Schalit; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were abducted by Hizballah in July 2006. We and the EU have repeatedly called for the immediate release of these two Israeli soldiers. Our ambassador in Beirut raised the issue several times with the Government of Lebanon. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister reiterated the UK's call for the immediate release of the prisoners with Prime Minister Siniora and the Heads of the Lebanese parliamentary committees when he visited Lebanon in September 2006.
	We support efforts to secure the release of the Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit, captured by Palestinian militant groups in June 2006. We have not discussed this issue with the Government of Lebanon. We have, however, discussed it with the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas.

Lebanon

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with the Israeli Government on securing the release of Lebanese citizens being held without trial in Israel; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: Officials in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have held discussions with Israeli Government officials about the issue of Lebanese prisoners held by Israel.
	The UK also supported United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 of 11 August 2006, which brought about the end of the summer 2006 conflict between Israel and Hizballah. The resolution recognised the sensitivity of the issue of Lebanese prisoners detained in Israel in the context of establishing lasting peace and stability.

Lebanon

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with the United Nations on securing the release of  (a) Israeli citizens held in Lebanon and  (b) Lebanese citizens held in Israel; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 of 11 August 2006, which brought about the end of the summer 2006 conflict between Israel and Hizballah, recognised the urgent need to secure the unconditional release of abducted Israeli soldiers, and to settle the issue of Lebanese prisoners detained in Israel. The resolution, which the UK worked hard to bring about, encouraged efforts aimed at resolving these issues. The UN regards this as a top priority, and is conducting delicate negotiations with the parties. We have regularly encouraged the UN to maintain this sense of urgency. We hope to see progress soon. We continue to stay in touch with the Governments of Israel and Lebanon about the issue of prisoners.

Chevrolet Electric Car

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he has had discussions with representatives from General Motors on the development of the Chevrolet Volt electric car.

Margaret Hodge: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, has not had any direct discussion with General Motors on the Volt electric vehicle concept. However, as you would expect, officials from the Department have discussed the Volt vehicle as part of their regular dialogue with the company.

Dispute Resolution

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether  (a) his Department and  (b) Ofgem have any plans to require energy suppliers to become members of alternative dispute resolution schemes which can investigate complaints on behalf of small business consumers; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: The existing level of regulatory protection in respect of gas and electricity broadly reflects that in general consumer law. It is open to Ofgem to consider whether additional regulatory protection, including the introduction of alternative dispute resolution schemes, is required. I understand that the chairman of Ofgem will write to the hon. Member about the information she has sought.

Doha Round

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what response he has made to the calls from the Association of South-East Asian Nations for the resumption of the Doha Round; and what representations he has made to the EU Trade Commissioner on the Doha Round.

Ian McCartney: We welcomed the statement on the importance of the DDA and the commitment to complete the negotiations made by the Association of South-East Asian Nations at the meeting of their Economic Ministers in August 2006, as we have welcomed similar statements made by other parties to the negotiations. Following the ASEAN statement, I met a number of the ambassadors of the ASEAN nations in the UK to discuss trade and economic issues in September 2006. Followed by a decision with the Secretary-General of ASEAN on 4 December 2006.
	The Government remain fully committed to securing an ambitious, pro-development outcome to the Doha Development Agenda (DDA). In order to achieve this objective, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, other ministerial colleagues and I have had regular contacts with the EU Trade Commissioner.

Engineering: Africa

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with engineering companies on the opportunities for doing business in Africa; and if he will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: holding answer 27 November 2006
	The Department has assisted over 4,600 British companies working in Africa during the past 12 to 18 months through its range of services. This figure includes providing substantive assistance to over 150 companies working in engineering field. We help British companies develop their export strategy, provide support and advice on market entry, advise on local customs, assist in finding a local partner, deal with red tape and understanding ways of doing business. Working with our stakeholders we arranged 65 inward missions and 62 outward missions, to African countries in recent years includingSouth Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Libya. Our ambassadors/high commissioners and senior government officials have helped British companies in their efforts to secure contracts in Africa by extensive lobbying with Ministers and officials.
	Through our services, we have supported UK engineering firms dealing in a range of multiple industrial projects including roads, bridges, dams, major oil and gas exploration, construction of power plants and infrastructure projects throughout the whole of Africa.
	The UKTI 'Online Market Introduction Service' has helped some of our small to medium size engineering firms (SMEs) to bid for sub contracts to supply specialist support to the multi-national organisations. Examples of the service and products these companies provide are:
	Flexible pipeline and sub-sea production solutions using an engineering based approach to reuse flexible pipes,
	Engineered solution to pipeline pigging and flow assurance products,
	Wind power development, and
	Geophysics software development.
	UK companies are in many cases major investors in Africa, including Angola, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Algeria and Egypt. We are particularly strong in the oil and gas sector where investment, including oil field development, over the next 10 years will exceed $50 billion.
	UK ambassadors/high commissioners across Africa are in constant discussions with Ministers and senior government officials, to promote British expertise and knowledge. Paul Boateng, high commissioner in South Africa only last week met UK companies to discuss doing business in South Africa. The Duke of York visited Egypt in 2005, and had meetings with the President and Ministers. He also opened the BG Group $1.9 billion LNG project. My predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley, South (Ian Pearson), met with British investors in Libya to discuss the challenges they face and how they were doing business in the market.
	 Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)
	Under the Cotonou Agreement, signed in Beninin 2000, 77 African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries receive non-reciprocal trade access to the European Union. Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) will replace Cotonou on 1 January 2008. EPAs will be compatible with WTO rules and are being negotiated by the European Commission on behalf of the EU.
	EPAs will be designed to deliver long-term development, economic growth and poverty reduction in all ACP countries. The UK Position Paper of March 2005 states that we will not pursue any offensive interests and that we believe that developing countries can benefit from liberalisation in the long ran, provided they have the economic capacity and infrastructure they need to trade competitively.
	UK Ministers and officials continue to work hard to influence the debate in member states, the European Commission and the European Council to improve the development dimensions of EPAs.

Low Carbon Buildings Programme

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the merits of making funding available to agricultural businesses under the Low Carbon Buildings Programme Phase 1 (Stream 2A).

Malcolm Wicks: The environmental guidelines under which the Low Carbon Buildings Programme Phase 1 Stream 2 has been approved, do not apply to aid that is covered by the Community's guidelines for state aid in the agriculture sector. The agriculture guidelines apply to all state aids granted:
	"in connection with activities related to the production, processing and marketing of agricultural products".
	State aid rules therefore only allow for agricultural sites to submit grant applications for property used for private residential purposes.

Low Carbon Buildings Programme

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on what date domestic grant funding under phase 1 of the 2006-09 Low Carbon Buildings Programme will finish.

Malcolm Wicks: We currently have a total pot of £12.7 million for the Low Carbon Buildings Programme phase 1 household stream, which on projected demand levels should allow householder funding to continue until June 2008. By this time, some of the wider measures to promote microgeneration should be taking hold, and we believe the sector may have matured to a point where householder grants are no longer necessary.

Low Carbon Buildings Programme

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if his Department will increase the three year budget for domestic renewable energy installations under phase 1 of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: On 25 October 2006, we announced that £6.2 million of the total £28.5 million funding for phase 1 of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme would be re-allocated to the household stream giving a total pot of £12.7 million. There are no plans to increase funding.

Low Carbon Buildings Programme

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the domestic stream of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme continues to meet householder demand until 2009.

Malcolm Wicks: We announced on 25 October 2006 that we would be re-allocating £6.2 million of the total £28.5 million funding of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme phase 1 to the household stream. This will give a total pot of £12.7 million, which on projected demand levels should allow householder funding to continue until June 2008. This is being achieved by transferring the bulk of public sector projects to the Low Carbon Buildings Programme phase 2, where£50 million is being made available to support projects in the public and not for profit sectors. In addition, we are reviewing grant levels in consultation withkey stakeholders and have introduced monthly allocations.
	By June 2008, some of the wider measures to promote microgeneration should be taking hold, and we believe the sector may have matured to a point where householder grants are no longer necessary.

Ministerial Visits

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on what date he agreed to accompany the Chancellor on his trip to India in January.

Ian McCartney: The primary purpose of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's visit to India was to represent the UK at annual ministerial meeting of the UK/India Joint Economic Trade Committee (JETCO) in January 2007. This obligation was in place when my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State took over the Trade and Industry brief on 5 May 2006.
	It was confirmed that these visits would coincide for one day only of my right hon. Friend the Chancellorof the Exchequer and my right hon. the Friend Secretary of State's respective 3-day programmes on11 December 2006.

North-West Regional Development

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of23 January 2007,  Official Report, column 1616-7W, on north west regional development, for what purpose the pre-development funding for Morecambe Vision Board for 2007-08 has been allocated.

Margaret Hodge: NWDA is considering the request for £95,000 of pre-development funding. £50,000 of this sum is to provide continued capacity support for the Vision Board and £45,000 is a contribution towards a study into an integrated transport solution for the district to be carried out by Lancashire county council. NWDA will be reviewing the role and purpose of regional Vision Boards during 2007.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the decommissioning assets of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority will be put out to competition.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 15 January 2007
	The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) will compete the management and operation of its sites in line with the competition schedule set out in its approved strategy. The introduction of competition is necessary to stimulate improved performance and to bring in new ideas and experience to the clean up of the historic civil nuclear legacy. The NDA's competition schedule takes into account the Government's decision to enable the sale through a competitive process of the British Nuclear Group and Magnox Electric Ltd. The NDA competition schedule is as follows:
	
		
			  Start competition process  Sites competed 
			 2006 Low Level Waste Repository (LLWR) 
			   
			 2007 Sale of BNG 
			  Sellafield (including Calder Hall/Capenhurst and Windscale) 
			   
			 2008 Magnox South (Berkeley, Bradwell, Dounreay, Dungeness A, Hinkley Point A, Sizewell A). 
			   
			 2009 Magnox North (Chapelcross, Hunterston A, Oldbury, Trawsfynydd, Wylfa) 
			  Harwell/Winfrith 
			   
			 Other Culham and Springfields subject to further review 
		
	
	Information on this and other NDA activities is available on the NDA website at:
	www.nda.gov.uk

Nuclear Power Stations

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the height above sea level is of the nuclear power facility sites at  (a) Hunterston B,  (b) Heysham 1,  (c) Heysham 2,  (d) Dungeness B,  (e) Hinkley Point B,  (f) Hartlepool,  (g) Torness and  (h) Sizewell B.

Malcolm Wicks: The height above sea level of the nuclear facilities referred to is as follows:
	
		
			   Million 
			  (a) Hunterston B 7.47 
			  (b) Heysham 1 8.25 
			  (c) Heysham 2 8.85 
			  (d) Dungeness B 5.5 
			  (e) Hinkley Point B 10.25 
			  (f) Hartlepool 4.75 
			  (g) Torness 11.35 
			  (h) Sizewell B 6.40

Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects the Office of Fair Trading to publish its report on the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Under the Enterprise Act, OFT is an independent competition authority, and the date of publication is a matter for them. Their website indicates they will publish during the first quarter of 2007. The Government will respond to the report in due course following its publication.

Retail Energy Market

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what regular monitoring is carried out by  (a) his Department and  (b) Ofgem to assess whether there is sufficient competition in the retail energy market for small business consumers.

Malcolm Wicks: The Office of Gas and Electricity Market (Ofgem) is responsible for the regulation of gas and electricity supply, including the monitoring of the competitive market. I understand that the chairman of OFGEM will write to the hon. Member about the information she has sought.

Smart Metering

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the impact of smart metering on domestic energy consumption;
	(2)  if the Government will publish an action plan indicating how it plans to implement article 13 of the Energy Services Directive on smart metering, following the conclusion of the current metering and billing consultation.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answers 26 January 2007
	The Government will take any farther decisions about metering and billing—including any measures that might be required to implement article 13 of the Energy Services Directive—in the light of responses to its current consultation and of other discussions with interested parties. Trials of smart meters and other devices, which the Government are co-funding with supplier-led consortia, will also begin shortly. These trials will test a range of approaches to encouraging consumers to reduce energy consumption.

UK Trade and Investment

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which UK overseas missions are due to receive more UK Trade and Investment employees; and whether these staff will be engaged on  (a) export promotion and  (b) the promotion of foreign direct investment into the UK.

Ian McCartney: In keeping with the commitment to increase resource in the emerging markets in UK Trade and Investment's strategy 'Prosperity in a Changing World' published in July 2006, resource in UKTI's overseas network is being redeployed to provide additional staff for UKTI activity in Brazil, mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Dubai, Mexico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Vietnam and Russia. Resource is also been redeployed within some developed markets to ensure the UKTI effort is appropriately focused on areas within these markets offering the greatest potential for UK companies.
	All redeployed staff will be engaged on either export promotion or the promotion of foreign direct investment into the UK, or both, depending on the opportunities afforded by the market.

UK-India Business Council

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether there are plans for the establishment of a UK-India Business Council.

Ian McCartney: There are no plans to establish a UK-India Business Council.
	Following the recommendation of the Trade and Industry Committee on Trade with India (June 2006) that the Indo-British Partnership Network (IBPN) "should become the de facto Indo-British Chamber of Commerce", the Government are committed to increasing its support of the IBPN. In the coming financial year, UK Trade and Investment will provide funds of up to £1 million to increase the scope and scale of the work of the IBPN, which will be match-funded by private sponsorship, membershipfees and revenue generated by the provision of IBPN services.

Retirement Age

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of4 December 2006,  Official Report, columns 189-90W, on the retirement age, what his Department's policy is on the application of the national default retirement age to staff below the senior civil service.

Paul Goggins: Under the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, there is a default age of retirement but this does not affect the right of staff to retire from minimum pension age, which is age 60,
	Staff who wish to work beyond the default retirement age of 65 may apply to do so, though it may not be possible in every case to approve such an application. Factors taken into account when assessing an application include ongoing staffing pressures, changing business needs and the normal performance and attendance requirements applied to all NIO staff.
	Given the timescales involved in the normal retirement process, a set of transitional arrangements will apply to retirements taking place between October 2006 and March 2007.
	Anyone retiring on or after 1 April 2007 will be subject to the full retirement procedure as stated in the regulations.

Abortion Act

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been prosecuted for offences under the Abortion Act 1967 in the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 26 January 2007
	Data from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on the number of persons proceeded against for the offence of procuring illegal abortions under the Offences against the Person Act 1861 as amended by the Abortion Act 1967, are provided in the attached table.
	Court proceedings data for offences of breach of regulations under the Abortion Act 1967 are not available as they are collected as a part of a miscellaneous group of offences which cannot be separately identified.
	
		
			  Number of persons proceeded against for procuring illegal abortions under the Offences against the Person Act 1861 as amended by the Abortion Act 1967 England and Wales 2001-2005( 1,2) 
			   Proceeded against 
			 2001 1 
			 2002 3 
			 2003 3 
			 2004 2 
			 2005 1 
			 (1) These data are on the principal offence basis  (2 )Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces and courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.   Source:  RDS - Office for Criminal Justice Reform

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders issued to residents of  (a) Peterborough constituency and  (b) Cambridgeshire were breached in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 25 January 2007
	ASBO breach statistics are available at Criminal Justice System area level only. The available information is given in the following table.
	
		
			  The number of antisocial behaviour orders issued at all courts in the Cambridgeshire Criminal Justice System (CJS) area( 1)  that were subsequently proven in court( 2)  to have been breached, for orders issued between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2005 (latest available) 
			   Number breached( 3)  at least once in each year by the end of 2005 
			 2001 2 
			 2002 2 
			 2003 11 
			 2004 9 
			 2005 9 
			 (1) There were 95 ASBOs issued between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2005. As reported to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform by the Court Service. (2 )Breaches are counted irrespective of where in England and Wales the breach proceedings took place. (3 ) Source: OCJR Court Proceedings Database.  Note:  Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

British Citizens: Convictions Abroad

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information was given to the Association of Chief Police Officers when they bid to become the UK central authority for the exchange of criminal records on outstanding notifications from other countries of British citizens who had committed crimes abroad.

Joan Ryan: holding answer 16 January 2007
	The latest available information was set out in my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary's statements to the House of Commons dated 10 January and 16 January, and in the Home Office press statement issued on 13 January.
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has asked for an urgent operational response involving ACPO, CRB, Prisons and Probation in order to clear the backlog of overseas convictions notifications. My right hon. friend has asked the Permanent Secretary of the Home Office to set up an inquiry into the Home Office's handling of these notifications. This will include a chronology of events, the practices and procedures in place at different times, whether appropriate action was taken and the lessons to be learned.

Child Sex Offenders

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to prevent convicted child sex offenders from being employed as school bus drivers.

Parmjit Dhanda: holding answer 29 January 2007
	I have been asked to reply.
	We are currently consulting on draft school transport guidance. This states that local authorities should ensure that the authority's employees or employees of contractors whose duties involve a high level of contact with children or vulnerable adults are subject to enhanced Criminal Records Bureau checks. This should include bus drivers and escorts.'
	The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 introduces a new Vetting and Barring Scheme which will be launched in autumn 2008. Under it, school bus driver and escort post holders will be regulated activity, meaning that anyone employed in these roles must be monitored under the scheme.

Correspondence

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to lettersfrom the hon. Member for Mid Worcestershire of6 September and 19 October on the subject of unsatisfactory replies to parliamentary questions.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 30 January 2007
	I wrote to the hon. Member on 30 January.

Crime Statistics: Somerset

David Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were charged with  (a) possession of illegal drugs and  (b) possession with intent to supply in Somerset in each of the last10 years, broken down by basic command unit area; and how many of those charged (i) were found guilty and (ii) were under the age of 18 years.

Vernon Coaker: Information on charging for these offences is not centrally available. Details about court outcomes and the age of drug offenders are only available at police force level.

Criminal Justice Act

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convicted murderers have been sentenced since the implementation of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 25 January 2007
	Section 269 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 which relates to the determination of a minimum term in relation to mandatory life sentences came into force on 18 December 2003, and figures reported to the Home Office show that 766 persons were sentenced for murder between that date and 31 December 2005, the latest date for which sentencing information is currently available.
	Although care is taken in collating and analysing the returns used to compile these figures, the data are of necessity subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. Consequently, although figures are shown to the last digit in order to provide a comprehensive record of the information collected, they are not necessarily accurate to the last digit shown.

Criminal Records Backlog

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his oral statement of 10 January 2007,  Official Report, columns 285-86, on the criminal records backlog, on what date thefirst enquiry about notifications was made by his Department or the Association of Chief Police Officers to a notifying country in order to obtain further details to establish the identities of the 280 offenders referred to.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 15 January 2007
	The latest available information was set out in my right hon. friend the Home Secretary's statements to the House of Commons dated 10 January and 16 January, and in the Home Office press statement issued on 13 January.

Identity Theft

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to make identity theft a criminal offence; and what representations he has received on trends in identity theft.

Joan Ryan: The criminal law contains a range of offences to tackle crime related to fraudulent use of identity and the Government have no plans to introduce a new criminal offence of identity theft.In the Entitlement Cards and Identity Fraud Consultation Paper, published in July 2002, we invited views on whether an offence of identity fraud should be created. Following the consultation period, the law was changed to align the maximum penalty at two years imprisonment for fraudulently obtaining a driving licence with that for fraudulently obtaining a passport. The offences were also made arrestable.
	The Fraud Act 2006, which came into force on15 January 2007, created a new offence of fraud that can be committed in three ways: by making a false representation (dishonestly, with intent to make a gain, cause a loss or risk of loss to another), by failing to disclose information, and by abuse of position. New offences were also created of obtaining services dishonestly, possessing equipment to commit frauds, and making or supplying articles for use in frauds.
	The Identity Cards Act 2006 created new offences relating to possession, control and intent to use false identity documents, including a genuine document that relates to someone else. These offences came into force on 7 June 2006 and apply to all identity documents, including identity cards to be issued under the national identity scheme. Other documents include UK passports, immigration documents and driving licences, as well as driving licences, passports and identity cards issued by other countries.
	We have received a number of parliamentary questions, including ones from the hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle, asking about numbers of offences, convictions and victims of identity theft and identity fraud.

Internet Crime

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the extent of crime associated with the use of electronic communication and the internet.

Liam Byrne: The Government written evidence to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee Inquiry into Personal Internet Security sets out our best assessment of internet crime. For example:
	IBM have stated that one in every 52 emails in January and one in 28 emails in June 2005 were affected with malicious content;
	In 2004, total losses from online banking fraud were recorded for the first time and reached £12.2million (APACS 2005);
	In 2005, online banking fraud grew to £23.3m, an increase of 90 per cent. from 2004;
	The 2003-04 British Crime Survey found that 27 per cent. of adults who used the internet at home reported their computer had been affected by a virus (a third of those reported the computer had been damaged) in the previous 12 months;
	2 per cent. of adults who used the internet at home reported their computer had been accessed or hacked into files on their home computer in the previous 12 months.

Motoring Offences

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions of uninsured drivers of motor vehicles there were in  (a) Morecambe and Lunesdale and  (b) Lancashire in each year between 2003 and 2006.

Vernon Coaker: Data are not available at constituency level.
	Available information taken from the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, for the Lancashire police force area, from 2003-04 (latest available) is provided in the table.
	2005 data will be available later this year. Data for 2006 will be available in the early part of 2008.
	
		
			  Proceedings at magistrates courts for the offence of using a motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks( 1) , within Lancashire police force area, 2003-04 
			  Number of offences 
			   2003( 2)  2004 
			 Total proceedings 21,229 16,065 
			 (1) An offence under the Road Traffic Act 1988 s. 143 (2) (2 )As from 1 June 2003, 'driving a motor vehicle while uninsured against third party risks' became a fixed penalty offence.  Notes:  1. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. Work is underway to ensure that the magistrates courts case management system currently being implemented by the Department for Constitutional Affairs reports all motoring offences to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. This will enable more complete figures to be disseminated.  2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their limitations are taken into account when these data are used.

Police Patrols

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to carry out a review of the effectiveness of the function of police patrol.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 26 January 2007
	Research has found that random patrol had no impact on crime rates or on calls for service. Targeted patrolof crime hotspots was found to have an impact. Furthermore there is some evidence of a positive impact on crime and confidence with officers that had higher levels of doorstep contact with the community, rather than contact through patrol. There is a growing evidence base to suggest that patrol, as part of a neighbourhood policing strategy, is effective in its impact on crime, perceptions of crime and antisocial behaviour, feelings of safety, and public confidence in the police.
	The Home Office's evaluation of the national reassurance policing programme was published in January 2006 and provides strong evidence of the impact of neighbourhood policing. A copy is available in the library of the House. The roll-out of neighbourhood policing is due to be complete by April 2008. Ongoing Home Office research will evaluate its impact on police performance, and the results will be published in due course.

Prisons

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer to the right hon. Member for East Yorkshire (Mr. Knight) of11 January 2007,  Official Report, column 658W, on prisons, how many years' experience the previous head of operations at HM Prison Pentonville had working in operations departments at prison establishments; at what grade this experience was gained; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The previous head of operations had six years' prison service experience. It is not appropriate to provide further personal information. The reply referred to above made it clear that those appointing the previous head of operations considered that they had sufficient experience for the post.

Public Order

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many anti-social behaviour orders were breached in Essex in each of the last five years.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 20 December 2006
	The available information is given in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of persons breaching( 1)  their antisocial behaviour order where the order was proven to have been breached in an Essex court( 2) , for orders issued between 1 June 2000 and 31 December 2005 (latest available) 
			   Persons breaching their ASBO in the Essex CJS area 
			 2001 — 
			 2002 1 
			 2003 2 
			 2004 29 
			 2005 70 
			 (1) Persons are counted according to whether they breached their ASBO in a particular year. Hence a person may be counted more than once in the table. (2) Breaches of ASBOs in Essex are counted irrespective of where in England and Wales the proceedings to issue the ASBO took place  Note:  Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source:  OCJR Court Proceedings Database.

Seat Belts

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many motorists were prosecuted for not wearing seat belts in each of the last five years, broken down by police authority.

Vernon Coaker: Available information taken from the Court Proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, from 2000 to 2004 (latest available) is provided in the table. As the majority of seat belt offences are dealt with by the issue of a fixed penalty notice these are also included.
	2005 data will be available later this year.
	
		
			  Proceedings( 1)  at magistrates courts and fixed penalty notices issued( 2)  for seat belt offences( 3) , by police force area, England and Wales, 2000-04 
			  Number of offences 
			   2000  2001  2002 
			  Police force area  Total court proceedings( 1)  Total number of fixed penalties( 2)  Total court proceedings( 1)  Total number of fixed penalties( 2)  Total court proceedings( 1)  Total number of fixed penalties( 2) 
			 Avon and Somerset 102 4,360 97 4,240 98 3,420 
			 Bedfordshire 37 3,841 33 2,584 50 3,022 
			 Cambridgeshire 73 1,639 45 1,082 51 1,082 
			 Cheshire 68 3,229 45 2,838 41 2,257 
			 Cleveland 87 1,653 84 1,197 88 1,255 
			 Cumbria 145 1,360 117 1,282 120 1,677 
			 Derbyshire 84 3,535 73 3,118 93 3,236 
			 Devon and Cornwall 118 5,588 112 4,288 115 5,011 
			 Dorset 32 4,959 32 3,171 45 1,884 
			 Durham 89 3,146 54 3,079 46 2,876 
			 Essex 125 6,734 78 4,438 65 4,389 
			 Gloucestershire 25 1,393 31 1,431 22 1,171 
			 Greater Manchester 706 10,241 577 8,485 423 8,107 
			 Hampshire 209 4,246 222 5,252 179 5,278 
			 Hertfordshire 81 3,639 87 2,942 65 3,014 
			 Humberside 81 3,963 106 3,158 73 1,666 
			 Kent 54 4,707 69 4,720 48 4,511 
			 Lancashire 348 9,787 302 5,458 298 6,511 
			 Leicestershire 102 2,086 70 2,025 68 1,764 
			 Lincolnshire 64 2,359 60 2,386 36 1,407 
			 London, City of 5 186 10 146 8 298 
			 Merseyside 261 2,831 297 2,022 323 0 
			 Metropolitan Police 630 6,270 629 8,322 713 10,590 
			 Norfolk 62 3,547 79 4,221 53 2,723 
			 Northamptonshire 15 1,245 5 1,619 3 736 
			 Northumbria 281 3,952 197 6,815 188 5,748 
			 North Yorkshire 58 1,293 69 1,996 30 1,644 
			 Nottinghamshire 83 1,391 49 908 34 476 
			 South Yorkshire 135 5,782 131 5,880 83 4,376 
			 Staffordshire 61 2,212 54 738 43 949 
			 Suffolk 65 1,423 50 1,524 52 1,057 
			 Surrey 88 5,696 132 4,540 73 1,685 
			 Sussex 85 5,349 72 6,278 52 2,870 
			 Thames Valley 174 7,142 162 7,806 114 4,974 
			 Warwickshire 49 881 39 675 31 508 
			 West Mercia 116 2,266 82 1,799 101 1,929 
			 West Midlands 310 3,411 279 2,837 264 2,602 
			 West Yorkshire 236 4,484 243 4,190 171 5,439 
			 Wiltshire 78 3,047 54 2,056 57 2,042 
			 Dyfed-Powys 48 1,617 46 2,140 66 2,026 
			 Gwent 61 3,288 57 2,814 34 2,215 
			 North Wales 55 2,533 43 4,572 61 5,842 
			 South Wales 154 2,990 120 3,319 137 2,152 
			 England and Wales 5,740 155,301 5,193 144,391 4,715 126,419 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of offences 
			   2003  2004 
			  Police force area  Total court proceedings( 1)  Total number of fixed penalties( 2)  Total court proceedings( 1)  Total number of fixed penalties( 2) 
			 Avon and Somerset 69 2,966 80 3,309 
			 Bedfordshire 38 2,118 32 3,477 
			 Cambridgeshire 33 1,693 36 2,215 
			 Cheshire 34 2,133 29 4,780 
			 Cleveland 42 1,613 45 2,429 
			 Cumbria 119 1,212 105 2,121 
			 Derbyshire 103 3,703 99 4,308 
			 Devon and Cornwall 97 3,689 90 3,395 
			 Dorset 36 1,447 29 1,269 
			 Durham 34 2,016 35 1,733 
			 Essex 77 4,540 129 9,950 
			 Gloucestershire 13 1,174 16 1,216 
			 Greater Manchester 363 5,034 280 9,111 
			 Hampshire 174 6,083 160 7,206 
			 Hertfordshire 61 5,065 88 7,624 
			 Humberside 110 1,657 109 1,978 
			 Kent 66 4,308 59 4,212 
			 Lancashire 308 5,854 230 6,558 
			 Leicestershire 78 2,338 70 1,914 
			 Lincolnshire 46 4,195 85 7,783 
			 London, City of 16 209 25 1,082 
			 Merseyside 399 1,893 404 4,791 
			 Metropolitan Police 1,025 16,165 1,459 19,233 
			 Norfolk 46 1,788 36 2,012 
			 Northamptonshire 7 721 9 640 
			 Northumbria 131 4,921 120 6,253 
			 North Yorkshire 49 2,299 45 3,339 
			 Nottinghamshire 40 1,279 43 1,371 
			 South Yorkshire 67 3,901 69 6,343 
			 Staffordshire 42 1,173 62 3,500 
			 Suffolk 46 1,528 49 2,621 
			 Surrey 61 3,845 73 4,187 
			 Sussex 37 1,665 27 1,488 
			 Thames Valley 186 9,717 186 15,914 
			 Warwickshire 25 992 24 1,071 
			 West Mercia 74 3,147 96 6,363 
			 West Midlands 244 4,161 258 9,966 
			 West Yorkshire 295 8,394 352 8,643 
			 Wiltshire 66 2,844 52 3,656 
			 Dyfed-Powys 73 1,628 22 1,066 
			 Gwent 38 2,424 21 2,744 
			 North Wales 43 4,688 61 6,106 
			 South Wales 79 3,074 93 2,937 
			 England and Wales 4,990 145,294 5,392 201,914 
			 (1) May include cases where a fixed penalty notice was originally issued but not paid and subsequently referred to court. (2) Paid i.e. no further action. (3) Offences under the Road Act 1988 ss. 14 (3) and 15 (2) and (4). (Driver and passenger offences cannot be separately identified).  Notes: 1. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. Work is under way to ensure that the magistrates courts case management system currently being implemented by the Department for Constitutional Affairs reports all motoring offences to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. This will enable more complete figures to be disseminated. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when these data are used.

Wheel Clamping

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of18 December 2006,  Official Report, column 1690W, on wheel clamping, what estimate he has made of the proportion of the licensable Vehicle Immobilising (VI) population in possession of a VI licence; what assessment he has made of the methodology used by the Security Industry Authority in estimating the total licensable VI population; and if he will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: The Security Industry Authority's operational experience suggests that within the vehicle immobilising industry there is a high level of compliance with the licensing requirements of the Private Security Industry Act 2001.
	It was estimated that there were approximately 1,200 wheel clampers working on private land in England and Wales prior to the introduction of regulation in May 2005. However, this sector of the private security industry is believed to be subject to a rate of turnover and other staffing changes of between 20 and 25 per cent. per year. The licensable sector has also been increased by the introduction of a licensing requirement for those involved in related activities such as towing away or blocking in vehicles and collecting payment. On24 January, there were 1,508 valid VI licences. The SIA publishes full statistical details of licensable sectors on its website at:
	http://www.the-sia.org.uk/home/licensing/stats_2.htm

External Consultants

Mark Hoban: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which external consultants were used by  (a) his Office and  (b) each of its agencies in relation to private finance initiatives in 2005-06; and what the nature and cost of the work was in each case.

John Prescott: For information relating to financial year 2005-06, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government (Angela E. Smith) on 18 January 2006,  Official Report, column 1318W.

Adult Education

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many people enrolled in adult and community learning programmes in Shropshire in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many adults participated in further education in Shropshire in each year since 1997.

Phil Hope: Figures for those participating in both adult and community learning (ACL) and further education (FE) can be derived from the Individualised Learner Record (ILR). The ACL ILR was collated for the first time in 2003-04 but reliable and consistent figures are only available from 2004-05. The FE ILR was collated for the first time in 2002-03 and figures are presented from that time. The following table show the total number of learners in Shropshire local learning and skills council (LSC) area for both ACL and FE based on the home postcode of the learner. For FE, the figures show all learners, irrespective of whether the course is subsidised by the LSC (the substantial majority), but also learners on full-cost recovery courses and those who draw funding from other bodies, such as the European social fund or local authorities. ACL providers are not required to submit ILR data on non-LSC funded learners, so the figures shown may exclude some who either pay fees themselves or are funded by other means.
	
		
			  Total number of learners Shropshire local LSC area 
			   FE  ACL 
			 2002-03 38,507 n/a 
			 2003-04 38,929 n/a 
			 2004-05 36,972 3,110 
			 2005-06 30,747 4,750 
			  Note: Figures rounded to nearest 10.

Apprenticeships

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of the total training costs of an advanced apprenticeship or similar level 3 vocational qualification will be publicly funded for  (a) 16 to 18,  (b) 18 to 25 and  (c) over 25-year-olds as part of the Government's planned extensionof learning entitlements to level 3 vocational qualifications.

Phil Hope: The entitlement to free tuition for a first full level 3 qualification for young adults aged between 19 and under 25 when they start their learning will be introduced from the start of the 2007/08 academic year. The introduction of the new entitlement will still mean that apprentices of any age are not asked to make a contribution to the costs of their training. The funding to learning providers for the delivery of advanced apprenticeships to 16 to 18-year-old learnerswill continue to be met fully from public funds. However, the rates payable to learning providers for apprenticeships for those aged 19 or above are reduced by up to 50 per cent. of the 16 to 18 rate to reflect the lower costs of training for older learners and an assumed contribution by employers.
	For individuals undertaking learning at level 3 outside the apprenticeship programme, the funding to further education learning providers for 16 to 18-year-old learners will continue to be met fully from public funds. This will also be the case for adults aged 19 and under 25 who are eligible for the level 3 entitlement. Adults aged over 19 and under 25 who are not eligible for the level 3 entitlement or any of the other fee remission categories will be expected to make a contribution to their learning of 37.5 per cent. in 2007/08. Adults aged 25 and over who are not eligible for any fee remission category will also be expected to make a contribution to their learning of 37.5 per cent. in 2007/08. By 2010, the learner contribution will rise to around 50 per cent., this is in line with the principle that individuals and employers should contribute to costs in line with their ability to pay and the benefits they receive.

Apprenticeships

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of9 January 2007,  Official Report, column 556W, on apprenticeships, if he will break down the figures by  (a) region,  (b) industrial sector,  (c) sex and  (d) whether or not the apprenticeships were at advanced level in each case.

Phil Hope: The following table A reproduces the success rates for apprenticeship courses for 2001/02 to 2004/05 as per that shown in the answer of 9 January 2007:
	
		
			  Table A—national apprenticeship success rates 
			  England 
			   Percentage 
			 2001/02 24 
			 2002/03 27 
			 2003/04 31 
			 2004/05 40 
		
	
	The following two tables break down these figures by region and also into apprenticeships at level 2 (table B) and advanced apprenticeships (table C):
	
		
			  Table B—success rates for apprenticeships at level 2 broken down by region 
			  Percentage 
			  Region  2001/02  2002/03  2003/04  2004/05 
			 North East 24 23 30 41 
			 North West 20 24 29 40 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 25 25 31 40 
			 East Midlands 24 25 31 41 
			 West Midlands 23 25 33 42 
			 East 20 25 30 40 
			 London 13 18 20 31 
			 South East 22 21 29 40 
			 South West 28 29 35 46 
			 Not known 18 18 23 29 
			 National total 22 24 30 40 
		
	
	
		
			  Table C—success rates for advanced apprenticeships broken down by region 
			  Percentage 
			  Region  2001/02  2002/03  2003/04  2004/05 
			 North East 31 36 33 37 
			 North West 27 33 34 38 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 28 31 33 37 
			 East Midlands 25 33 32 39 
			 West Midlands 24 32 34 40 
			 East 25 31 32 36 
			 London 20 26 26 29 
			 South East 23 28 27 35 
			 South West 33 35 38 43 
			 Not known 23 29 27 28 
			 National total 26 32 32 38 
		
	
	The following tables categorise the apprenticeship courses into the subject types, the closest approximation available to Industry Sectors. The figures for 2001/02 to 2003/04 are described in terms of areas of learning, the classification used by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) during that period. In 2004/05 the LSC adopted a new classification created by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) in order to harmonise the categorisation of qualifications across relevant education agencies and bodies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Figures for 2003/04 are shown recalculated in terms of the new Subject Sector Area (SSA) classification, while figures for 2004/05 are exclusively categorised in terms of SSAs.
	Note, figures are suppressed where for a particular subject type less than 50 learners finished a course in that year, in line with LSC reporting standards covering both statistical disclosure rules designed to protect learner confidentiality, and also due to the inherent volatility of statistics based on very small numbers of learners.
	The following table D shows success rates for apprenticeships at level 2 broken down by area of learning for 2001/02 to 2003/04, table E shows equivalent figures for advanced apprenticeships:
	
		
			  Table D—success rates for apprenticeships at level 2 broken down by area of learning 
			  Percentage 
			  Area of learning  2001/02  2002/03  2003/04 
			 Science and Mathematics * * * 
			 Land based provision 26 32 36 
			 Construction 24 18 25 
			 Engineering, Technology and Manufacturing 19 24 30 
			 Business administration, Management and Professional 26 31 40 
			 Information and Communication Technology 46 46 52 
			 Retailing, Customer Service and Transportation 19 22 30 
			 Hospitality, Sports, Leisure and Travel 19 19 26 
			 Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy 26 30 36 
			 Health, Social Care and Public Services 15 15 17 
			 Visual and Performing Arts and Media 22 21 28 
			 Humanities * * * 
			 Not Known * * * 
			 National total 22 24 30 
		
	
	
		
			  Table E—success rates for advanced apprenticeships broken down by area of learning 
			  Percentage 
			  Area of learning  2001/02  2002/03  2003/04 
			 Science and Mathematics 36 * * 
			 Land based provision 24 29 39 
			 Construction 38 30 27 
			 Engineering, Technology and Manufacturing 35 45 43 
			 Business administration, Management and Professional 25 31 35 
			 Information and Communication Technology 31 42 50 
			 Retailing, Customer Service and Transportation 16 20 24 
			 Hospitality, Sports, Leisure and Travel 19 24 22 
			 Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy 22 31 35 
			 Health, Social Care and Public Services 22 26 24 
			 Visual and Performing Arts and Media 31 35 35 
			 Humanities * * * 
			 Not Known * * * 
			 National total 26 32 32 
		
	
	The following table F show success rates for apprenticeships at level 2 broken down into sector subject areas for 2003/04 to 2004/05; equivalent figures for advanced apprenticeships are shown in table G:
	
		
			  Table F—success rates for apprenticeships at level 2 broken down by SSA 
			  Percentage 
			  Sector subject area  2003/04  2004/05 
			 Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Care 36 43 
			 Arts, Media and Publishing 31 24 
			 Business, Administration and Law 37 47 
			 Construction, Planning and the Built Environment 25 40 
			 Education and Training * * 
			 Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies 30 43 
			 Health, Public Services and Care 16 32 
			 History, Philosophy and Theology * * 
			 Information and Communication Technology 51 50 
			 Languages, Literature and Culture * * 
			 Leisure, Travel and Tourism 26 35 
			 Preparation for Life and Work * * 
			 Retail and Commercial Enterprise 29 40 
			 Science and Mathematics * * 
			 Social Sciences * * 
			 Not known 57 8 
			 National total 30 40 
		
	
	
		
			  Table G—success rates for advanced apprenticeships broken down by SSA 
			  Percentage 
			  Sector subject area  2003/04  2004/05 
			 Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Care 40 39 
			 Arts, Media and Publishing 35 36 
			 Business, Administration and Law 31 42 
			 Construction, Planning and the Built Environment 39 46 
			 Education and Training * * 
			 Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies 38 46 
			 Health, Public Services and Care 24 22 
			 History, Philosophy and Theology * * 
			 Information and Communication Technology 49 56 
			 Languages, Literature and Culture * * 
			 Leisure, Travel and Tourism 38 28 
			 Preparation for Life and Work 20 15 
			 Retail and Commercial Enterprise 21 24 
			 Science and Mathematics * 53 
			 Social Sciences * * 
			 Not known * 6 
			 National total 32 38

Carbon Emissions

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when his Department began to measure its carbon emissions; what the volume of those emissions was in the last period for which figures are available; when his Department started to offset those emissions; what the cost is expected to be of offsetting his Department's emissions in 2006-07; and if he will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: DfES first measured carbon emissions in 1999/2000 within its Headquarters use of utilities as part of a DEFRA Energy return. Carbon emissions for business vehicle use were first measured in 2002/03 as part of the Sustainable Development in Government return. Carbon emissions for official and ministerial air travel were first measured in 2004/05.
	DfES carbon emissions for 2004/05 are available for:
	(a) Headquarters office estate utilities—2,730,107 kg's;
	(b) Headquarters business use vehicles—204,244 kg's; and
	(c) DfES Official and Ministerial air travel—147,994 kg's
	DfES started to offset its carbon emissions on Official and Ministerial air travel in April 2006.
	DfES expects its first years' contribution for April 2006 to March 2007 to the Official and Ministerial air travel carbon offsetting fund, to cost £2,960.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people  (a) applied for and  (b) received an education maintenance allowance in 2006.

Phil Hope: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate education maintenance allowances for the DfES and hold the information about take-up of the scheme. Mark Haysom, the council's chief executive, has written to the hon. Member with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 30 January 2007:
	I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Question 117467 that asked; "How many people (a) applied for and (b) received an education maintenance allowance in 2006."
	During the 2005/06 academic year 506,901 young people in England applied for an Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA).
	During the 2005/06 academic year 429,627 young people in England enrolled and received one or more EMA payment.
	I hope you find this information useful. If you would like further details please contact Shubana Nawaz at the LSC National Office on 0114 2074534 or shubana.nawaz@lsc.gov.uk.

Educational Attainment

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many school leavers in England at key stage 4 have left with  (a) no,  (b) one,  (c) two,  (d) three,  (e) four and  (f) five passes in recognised qualifications since 1979.

Jim Knight: The information requested is not available for all years since 1979. The figures requested since 1997 are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Number( 1)  of 15-year-olds( 2)  achieving no. one, two, three, four, and five passes at GCSE and equivalent in each year since 1997 
			  Number of A*-G grades at GCSE and equivalent  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006( 3) 
			 None 45,100 38,400 35,600 32,900 33,600 33,300 32,500 26,600 23,200 29,800 
			 One 10,200 10,200 19,000 16,700 10,100 9,800 8,700 10,000 10,300 10,400 
			 Two 6,900 6,600 12,100 11,000 7,000 7,200 7,300 8,300 8,300 8,500 
			 Three 7,700 7,100 16,100 16,400 7,300 7,500 8,100 8,500 8,800 9,100 
			 Four 9,800 8,900 8,300 8,400 9,500 9,600 10,300 10,800 11,100 11,300 
			 Five 13,800 12,500 11,200 10,900 13,100 13,200 14,300 14,300 14,700 14,400 
			 Five or more 507,579 504,800 519,600 521,300 536,300 539,600 550,800 571,400 567,000 580,000 
			 Cohort size 586,800 575,200 581,000 580,400 603,300 606,600 622,100 643,600 633,400 645,900 
		
	
	The proportion of 15-year-olds achieving one or more passes and five or more passes at GCSE and equivalent in each year since 1997 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Percentage of 15-year-olds( 2)  achieving at least one and at least five passes at GCSE and equivalent in each year since 1997 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006( 3) 
			 5 or more A*-G grades at GCSE and equivalent 86.4 87.5 88.5 88.9 88.9 88.9 88.8 88.8 89.0 89.4 
			 1 or more A* G grades at GCSE and equivalent 92.3 93.4 94.0 94.4 94.5 94.6 94.8 95.9 96.4 96.7 
			 (1 )Figures are given to the nearest 100. (2 )Pupils aged 15 at the start of the academic year, i.e. 31 August. (3 )2006 figures are revised. Figures for other years are final

English Language Teaching

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent on  (a) fee remission and  (b) other areas to provide English for speakers of other languages in each of the last five years; and how much is expected to be spent in each of the next three years.

Phil Hope: Since 2001, English for speakers of other languages has been delivered as part of the skills for life strategy. In that period, funding has tripled and almost 1.9 million learners have been supported in improving their skills. English language skills are essential for those people coming to the UK to seek refuge, to settle and to work and the Government intend to maintain its commitment to fund ESOL and to invest in improvements in the teaching and learning infrastructure.
	This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council. Mark Haysom the Chief Executive of LSC, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 24 January 2007:
	I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question regarding the funding spent on fee remission and other areas to provide English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) for the last five years and what is expected to be spent in the next three years.
	Currently all ESOL provision is free to eligible learners, so effectively everyone has their fees remitted. I have set out in the following table what the Learning and Skills Council has spent on ESOL over the last five years.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Cost 
			 2000-01 103 
			 2001-02 185 
			 2002-03 235 
			 2000-04 267 
			 2004-05 279 
		
	
	Because of the changes in the funding systems from 2004-05 we are only able to calculate the fee remission element paid to providers for the last two years. In 2004-05 fee element was£37 million and in 2005-06 £44 million.
	The 2005-06 final spend has still to be confirmed but we expect this to be more than £270 million on ESOL provision—just under 14 per cent. of the entire adult budget for that year. This amount is likely to increase by around 13 per cent. to £306 million in 2006-07. A further 5.5 per cent. increase in funding (to £323 million) is estimated for 2007-08.
	From August 2007 automatic fee remission will be withdrawn and while we expect the fees collected to increase it is not possible to calculate how many learners will continue to be eligible for fee remission and therefore not possible to provide fee remission information for the next three years.
	In 'Raising our Game' the LSC makes clear our expectation that spend on ESOL will not reduce, with achievements broadly remaining the same. ESOL remains a priority area for the Learning and Skills Council.

Family Engagement Toolkit

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the cost was of producing the family engagement toolkit, broken down by  (a) design and production,  (b) printing and  (c) distribution.

Parmjit Dhanda: The reading connects family engagement toolkit was produced by the National Literacy Trust on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills as part of the national reading campaign. The toolkit will support schools in reaching out to parents and the wider family and helping them to encourage children to enjoy reading. It contains tried and tested practical ideas to help schools engage effectively with family members and show them how easily they can support their children and how much of a difference they can make.
	The cost of designing and producing the toolkit was £2,704 and a print run of 3,000 copies cost £4,761. The toolkit is downloadable for free from the Reading Connects website www.readingconnects.org.uk and is distributed on request only to all existing Reading Connects schools via second class post at a cost of49 pence. All new Reading Connects member schools receive on joining both the family engagement toolkit and the Reading Connects handbook at a combined cost of 68 pence. In addition, copies of the toolkit will be distributed to new members at conferences, incurring no distribution costs.

Further Education Teachers: Portsmouth, North

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teaching staff were employed in further education colleges in Portsmouth, North in each year between 2001 and 2005.

Bill Rammell: Staff numbers in further education (FE) are recorded on the Staff Individualised Record (SIR) which is compiled by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). Figures are available disaggregated by local LSC areas; the following table shows the number of staff in FE in the relevant local LSC (Hampshire and Isle of Wight) identifying staff whose primary role is classed as either 'Teaching and Learning' or 'Support Teaching and Learning'. Figures are given for 2001/02 to 2004/05; the LSC will publish results for 2005/06 on their website when the data are available, likely to be at some point in March 2007.
	
		
			  Hampshire and Isle of Wight 
			   Teaching and learning staff  Support teaching and learning staff 
			 2001/02 6,091 1,435 
			 2002/03 6,359 1,414 
			 2003/04 6,829 1,614 
			 2004/05 6,469 1,484 
			  Source:  Staff Individualised Record (SIR) for 2001/02 to 2004/05.

Foundation Stage Profile

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent estimate he has made of the cost to  (a) schools,  (b) Early Years settings and  (c) local education authorities of (i) compiling and (ii) publishing the Foundation Stage Profile national results.

Beverley Hughes: We have not estimated the cost to schools and Early Years settings of compiling the Foundation Stage Profile because this forms part of their duty to monitor the progress of each child and plan for the next stage of his or her learning and because it replaced the Baseline Assessment in 2003. There is no cost to schools, Early Years settings or local authorities of DfES publishing the foundation stage national results.

Geography A-level

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what consultation there has been with maintained schools on the abolition of coursework for geography A-level students;
	(2)  when his Department expects to abolish coursework for geography A-level students;
	(3)  what representations he has received on plans to abolish coursework for geography A-level students.

Jim Knight: In June 2006, QCA provided advice to Government on the future of coursework in different subjects. In the advice, QCA stated that they had held a number of seminars where teachers, head teachers, nominees from local authorities, subject associations, subject experts, the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and fellow regulatory authorities, were all in attendance.
	Geography will still include coursework, but instead of the current teacher set and marked arrangements, it will be replaced by controlled assessments. These changes will be introduced in September 2009.
	The Secretary of State has received representation from a wide range of stakeholders, including subject associations and subject experts. They express a wide range of views on the best way forward for the Geography A-Level. QCA will work with partner organisations and teachers, to ensure that the new controlled assessment elements are rigorous and manageable.

Information Sharing Index Project

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether a privacy impact assessment  (a) has been produced and  (b) is planned for the Information Sharing Index project.

Beverley Hughes: We have not produced a privacy impact assessment for the information sharing index and have no plans to do so. Our preferred approach is to develop an ongoing systematic engagement of children, young people and parents, both at national and local levels, throughout the index implementation to ensure that any concerns about privacy are addressed and that the benefits that the index will bring are explained.
	It is important that children, young people and their families have confidence in the way the index handles data and protects their privacy. That is why the data held on the index will be minimal, will contain no case information and will not be used to make any automated assessment of risk. Contrary to what some recent media coverage has suggested, there will be no subjective opinions or observations about a child or their parents.
	The index will simply provide a tool to support better communication among practitioners. It will help practitioners identify a child with whom they have contact, and whether that child is getting the universal services (education, primary health care) to which they are entitled. It will enable them to contact one another more quickly and easily than they can now.
	The national index communications strategy and plan and those developed by local authorities emphasise the importance of engaging with children, young people and parents to raise awareness and understanding of the index. Since May 2006, Triangle, an independent organisation, has engaged a Children and Young People's Reference Group in a key programme of work to share their views on the index and inform its development. The group commented on the draft Information Sharing Index (England) Regulations 2007 as part of the public consultation that closed on 14 December 2006. One third of the 254 responses came directly from children, young people and parents. Focus groups facilitated by the British Youth Council and the Commission for Social Care Inspection (comprised of approximately 300 children and young people and 70 parents/carers) have also participated. A number of local authorities also held local/regional events to gather the views of children, young people, parents and front- line practitioners, and submitted responses on their behalf.
	We remain confident that the index is a justified and proportionate measure to improve outcomes for all children.

Information Sharing Index Project

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent representations he has received on the introduction of a national information sharing index for children; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: We have recently held a public consultation on the draft Information Sharing Index (England) Regulations 2007. The regulations, once in force, will provide a legal framework for the operation and maintenance of the information sharing index. The consultation, which concluded on 14 December 2006, attracted 254 responses, one-third of which came directly from children, young people and parents.
	Almost one-fifth of the responses came from local authorities. There were also responses from health, education, social care, police, voluntary and community sector and representative bodies. A number of local authorities held local/regional events to gather theviews of children, young people, parents and front-line practitioners, and submitted responses on their behalf.
	Also, as part of the consultation, we commissioned a number of organisations that work with childrenand young people to seek their views. The responses from Triangle, the British Youth Council and the Commission for Social Care Inspection represent the views of just under 300 children and young people. These were submitted as combined responses from each group. We also commissioned Triangle to seekthe views of parents and carers. This singleresponse represented the views of over 70 parents and carers.
	Throughout the index project we continue to meet with numerous strategic and front-line stakeholders, and have set up a number of advisory groups to help inform the development of the index.
	We are currently analysing the responses from the consultation and will publish an official Government response and summary statistical report in the spring, when the Regulations will be laid before Parliament. When the response and report are available, my officials will be happy to send the hon. Member acopy.

Looked-after Children

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the adequacy of community-based refuges for children and young people who run away; and if he will take steps to ensure that children who run away can  (a) find and  (b) be directed to a safe place to stay with counselling services.

Parmjit Dhanda: holding answer 29 January 2007
	We have commissioned an independent review to summarise the findings from the six DfES community based refuge pilots. We will disseminate the key lessons learned about the adequacy of refuge-based provision and support services to all local authorities, and make it available to all interested stakeholders via the DfES and Every Child Matters websites.
	Local children's services are responsible for identifying, assessing and meeting the needs of vulnerable young people including runaways. They are best placed to provide counselling, mediation and other family-based services including, if appropriate, a safe place to stay.
	We are also working with The Children's Society to assess how far local authority services for young people provide an effective response to runaways, including accommodation, and we will consider how we can incorporate best practice in runaways prevention and support into mainstream local children's services across the country.

Recruitment Agencies

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much his Department paid to recruitment agencies for the hire of temporary staff in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: Since 1 November 2004, the Department has used a single provider (Adecco). The key requirement of DfES is the provision of temporary administrative and secretarial cover. Agency engagements are kept as short as possible and only used to meet genuine short-term needs with an expected limit of no more than 13 weeks.
	Prior to 1 November 2004, the Department used Brook Street and Manpower employment agencies. To establish costs from these agencies since 1997, could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	The following table provides costs to the Department of employing agency staff for the previous two financial years. The table also provides costs from April 2006 to date. Costs are born from general administration expenditure budgets.
	
		
			  Financial year  Agency spend (£) 
			 April 2004 to March 2005 (full year) 2,485,157.51 
			 April 2005 to March 2006 (full year) 2,347,045.23 
			 April 2006 to December 2006 (year to date) 1,866,386.25

Residential Care

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many young people aged  (a) 15,  (b) 16 and  (c) 17 are in residential care.

Parmjit Dhanda: Information on the number of children looked after by a local authority aged 15, 16, and 17 who are in residential care is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of children looked after aged 15, 16, and 17 placed in residential care, at 31 March 2006( 1,2) —England 
			   Age at 31 March 2006 
			  Placement  15  16  17 
			  All children(1) 1,700 1,700 1,500 
			 
			  Secure units, homes and hostels 1,400 1,400 1,200 
			 Secure units 60 30 20 
			 Homes and hostels subject to children's homes regulations 1,300 1,000 550 
			 Homes and hostels not subject to children's homes regulations 50 370 640 
			 
			  Other residential settings 70 110 130 
			 Residential care homes 40 40 30 
			 NHS trust providing medical/nursing care 10 20 20 
			 Family centre or mother and baby unit — 10 10 
			 Young offenders institution or prison 20 40 60 
			 
			  Residential schools 220 150 170 
			 (1) Figures exclude children looked after under an agreed series of short-term placements. (2) Figures are taken from the SSDA903 return.

Review of Children and Young People

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what role the Chairman of the National Youth Volunteering Organisation 'v' is playing in his Department's contribution to the Government's Review of Children and Young People.

Parmjit Dhanda: In developing the discussion document of the Children and Young People's Review, HMT and DfES spoke to and received submissions from awide range of stakeholders. The National Youth Volunteering Organisation 'v' has been engaged with the review at official level but there has been no direct involvement by the chairman.

Special Educational Needs

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children with special educational needs were statemented in Morecambe and Lunesdale in each of the last three years.

Parmjit Dhanda: The information requested and comparable data for Lancashire local authority is shown in the table.
	
		
			  All schools: number and percentage of pupils attending schools in Morecambe and Lunesdale parliamentary constituency and Lancashire local authority with statements of SEN( 1) —January 2006 
			  Pupils with statements of SEN  2004  2005  2006 
			  Morecambe and Lunesdale parliamentary constituency
			 Total pupils 12,991 12,661 12,354 
			 Number 732 735 711 
			 Percentage 5.6 5.8 5.8 
			 
			  Lancashire local authority
			 Total pupils 185,271 182,583 180,019 
			 Number 7,323 7,391 7,332 
			 Percentage 4.0 4.0 4.1 
			 (1) Excludes dually registered pupils.  Source: Schools' Census

Specialised Diplomas

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what procedures will be put in place to assess how specialised diplomas are working after their introduction in 2008.

Phil Hope: Each one of the 14 Diploma lines of learning will be evaluated over a three year period. The evaluation will assess how local partnerships are delivering the Diplomas, how well they meet the needs of learners and how they contribute to the increased participation and achievement of young people in the 14-19 phase of learning. The evaluation will also consider the value of Diplomas to employers, learners, higher education institutions schools and colleges.

Specialised Diplomas

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations he has received on the timescale of the introduction of specialised diplomas.

Phil Hope: holding answer 25 January 2007
	We have held a wide range of events for stakeholdersand partners as we have taken forward diploma development, and their views have contributed to the development of the implementation and delivery plans.
	Since the publication of the 14-19 Education and Skills White Paper in February 2005, we have had a small number of representations specifically related to the timescale of the introduction of specialised diplomas.

Specialised Diplomas

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance has been given to local authorities on the co-ordination of school and college timetables prior to the introduction of specialised diplomas.

Phil Hope: Successful implementation and delivery of the 14-19 reforms depends on, among other things, wide dissemination of good practice. That is why we are making the lessons learned from the 14-19 Pathfinder Programme on the co-ordination of school and college timetables widely available through the Learning Visits Programme. Some 115 local authority areas have already attended at least one Visit, and, following demand, we are planning this term a programme of Learning Visits particularly focused on common timetabling. In addition, following the 14-19 Regional Conferences last October, we made available information about how the how the Diplomas would fit with existing curriculum requirements, including an example on how one 14-19 Partnership was proposing to do this.

Tamworth Pupils

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils  (a) began year 7 and  (b) finished year 11 in Tamworth constituency in each of the last 10 years.

Jim Knight: The available information is shown in the table.
	Information on pupils by year group is available from 2003. For previous years age has been used as the closest available alternative to year group data.
	
		
			  Maintained secondary schools( 1) : Number of pupils aged 11 and 15 or in year group 7 and 11( 2) , 1997-2006, position in January each year—Tamworth parliamentary constituency 
			   Number of pupils aged 11  Number of pupils aged 15  Number of pupils in year group 7  Number of pupils in year group 11 
			 1997 1,127 1,081 (3)— (3)— 
			 1998 1,068 1,047 (3)— (3)— 
			 1999 1,122 1,038 (3)— (3)— 
			 2000 1,131 1,096 (3)— (3)— 
			 2001 1,100 1,084 (3)— (3)— 
			 2002 1,113 1,015 (3)— (3)— 
			 2003 1,160 1,069 1,164 1,067 
			 2004 1,081 1,098 1,084 1,096 
			 2005 1,003 1,058 1,000 1,055 
			 2006 988 1,048 989 1,050 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed.  (2) Age as at 31 August in the previous year.  (3) Not available.   Source:  Schools Census

Unauthorised Absences

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many unauthorised absences from schools in  (a) Ribble Valley and  (b) Lancashire there were in each year since 1997.

Jim Knight: holding answer 24 January 2007
	The percentage of half days missed due to unauthorised absence in Ribble Valley parliamentary constituency and Lancashire local authority in each year since 1997 are shown as follows.
	
		
			  Percentage of half days missed in Maintained Primary Schools( 1)  due to unauthorised absence( 2,3) 
			   Ribble Valley  Lancashire  England 
			 1997/98 0.1 0.3 0.50 
			 1998/99 0.1 0.4 0.49 
			 1999/2000 0.1 0.4 0.47 
			 2000/01 0.1 0.3 0.49 
			 2001/02 0.1 0.34 0.45 
			 2002/03 0.1 0.31 0.43 
			 2003/04 0.1 0.32 0.41 
			 2004/05 0.1 0.34 0.43 
			 2005/06 0.1 0.35 0.45 
		
	
	
		
			  Percentage of half days missed in Maintained Secondary Schools( 1)  due to unauthorised absence( 2,3) 
			   Ribble Valley  Lancashire  England 
			 1997/98 0.3 0.8 1.10 
			 1998/99 0.3 0.9 1.07 
			 1999/2000 0.3 0.8 1.04 
			 2000/01 0.4 0.8 1.07 
			 2001/02 0.4 0.82 1.09 
			 2002/03 0.5 0.82 1.07 
			 2003/04 0.7 0.88 1.13 
			 2004/05 0.7 0.93 1.23 
			 2005/06 0.6 0.94 1.20 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Due to Local Government Reorganisation, regional figures are not available prior to 1998. (3) Figures for Ribble Valley are available to 1 decimal place. Figures for Lancashire local authority are available to 1 decimal place prior to 2001/02 and two decimal places from 2001/02 onwards. 
		
	
	Unauthorised absence is absence without leave from a teacher or other authorised representative of the school. This includes all unexplained or unjustified absences, such as lateness, holidays during term time not authorised by the school, absence where reason is not yet established and truancy.

Young Carers

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations he has received on the content of local authorities' Children and Young People's Plans in respect of young carers; and if he will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: holding answer 19 January 2007
	The Secretary of State for Education and Skills has not received any representations on the content of Children and Young People's Plans in respect of youngcarers. Recent research undertaken by the National Foundation for Educational Research found that24 per cent. of Children and Young People's Plans, from a representative sample of 75 local authorities, make specific reference to young carers.

Child Benefit

Paul Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 16 January 2007,  Official Report, column 1009W, on child benefit, whether the estimated cost of the extension of child benefit was published in documents relating to the 2006 pre-budget report.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 25 January 2007
	The estimated cost of the extension of child benefit was not published in documents relating to the pre-Budget report 2006. I refer the hon. Member to paragraph B.33 in the pre-Budget report 2006.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Paymaster General will reply to the letter of 29 November 2006 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard toMs Debbie Levy.

Dawn Primarolo: I have written to the right hon. Member about the issues raised by Ms Levy.

Department for Education and Skills

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  whether his Department has agreed that the£250 million increase in the Department for Education and Skills' capital budget in 2008-09 that he announced in his 2006 pre-Budget report be earmarked for primary schools (£150 million) and further education (£100 million);
	(2)  whether his Department has agreed that the£750 million increase in the Department for Education and Skills' capital budget in 2009-10 that he announced in his 2006 pre-Budget report be earmarked for primary schools (£500 million) and further education (£250 million).

Stephen Timms: The 2006 pre-Budget report announced that capital investment in education will rise by an additional £250 million, £750 million and £1,850 million over the years 2008-09 to 2010-11. Of the additional £250 million in 2008-09, £150 million will be for investment in primary schools and £100 million for investment in further education, and of the additional £750 million in 2009-10, £500 million will be for investment in primary schools and £250 million for investment in further education.

Departmental Staff

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many  (a) press officers and  (b) other staff were recruited by his Department in the last12 months; and which of the posts to which recruits were appointed were newly created.

John Healey: The latest figures showing number of staff recruited to the Department can be found on the Treasury website at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/about/about_recruitment.cfm.
	In the last 12 months, two press officers have been recruited to the Department to fill vacancies.
	The Department does not centrally record the number of newly-created posts. This information could therefore be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Electoral Statistics

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the  (a) total number of electors and  (b) registration rates were for each constituency in the UK in (i) 2004-05 and (ii) 2005-06, broken down by region and ranked in descending order according to the difference between registration rates in each year.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 30 January 2007:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what the (a) total number of electors and (b) registration rates were for each constituency in the UK in (i) 2004-05 and (ii) 2005-06, broken down by region and ranked in descending order according to the difference between registration rates in each year. (112118)
	The Office for National Statistics does not currently produce population estimates by parliamentary constituencies, so we are unable to calculate rates for these years. For registrationrates based on the 2001 Census, I refer you to the Official Record 12 December 2005 column 1718W.
	The attached table, which I am placing in the House of Commons Library, shows electors and attainers by parliamentary constituency alphabetically by UK Country, and Government Office Region in England, for 1 December 2004 and 1 December 2005, the latest data available. These statistics can be downloaded from:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=319
	Data for 1 December 2006 will be published here on22 February 2007.

EMI Group

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what occasions he has met representativesfrom EMI Group in the last 12 months; which representatives he met on each occasion; and what the purpose was of each meeting.

John Healey: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Inflation Figures

David Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  when  (a) he and  (b) his officials were first informed of the Consumer Price Index inflation figures to be published on 16 January;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on the availability to the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England of inflation data produced by the Office of National Statistics prior to the public release of such data.

John Healey: holding answers 18 January 2007
	As with other market sensitive statistics the National Statistics Code of Practice sets out pre-release access to the Consumer Price Indices for the Treasury and the Bank of England.
	The information on the availability to the Monetary Policy Committee of inflation data produced bythe Office for National Statistics falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked her to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 30 January 2007:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the availability to the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England of inflation data produced by the Office of National Statistics, prior to its public release. (116634)
	Consistent with the National Statistics Code of Practice Protocol on Release Practices (Paragraph 4(f)) an estimate of the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) is given every month to a restricted list of named ministers and officials and the Governor of the Bank of England 40.5 hours before publication. The names of the people receiving privileged early access are published on the National Statistics website.
	In addition in months when the MPC meets in the week immediately preceding publication of the CPI the ONS provides the Governor with an advance estimate of the CPI on the Wednesday afternoon prior to publication. Paragraphs 4(f)ii and 5.2 of the Release Practices Protocol provides for extensions to the usual privileged early access arrangements. Under the terms of this extension the Governor is free to share the advance estimate with the MPC and officials present at the Thursday morning meeting of the MPC. In the months when this extension applies a note is included in the ONS First Release.
	Consistent with this extension an advance estimate of theCPI for December was sent to the Governor on the afternoon of 10 January. This was recorded in paragraph 19 of the Background Notes to the First Release published on 16 January. The published estimate was sent to the Governor at 5 p.m. on12 January in line with the usual privileged early access arrangements.

Ministerial Travel

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the  (a) date,  (b) purpose and  (c) cost was of each helicopter flight he has taken in the last12 months.

John Healey: In respect of overseas travel by Cabinet Ministers, since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. Where non-scheduled aircraft are used this is shown in the list. Information for 2005-06 was published on 24 July 2006. Copies of the lists are available in the Library. Equivalent detail about domestic travel could be provided only at disproportionate cost. All travel by Treasury Ministers and officials is undertaken in accordance with the "Ministerial Code, Travel by Ministers" and the Civil Service Management Code, as appropriate.

Ministerial Travel

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department charged media organisations to accompany him on his trip to India in January 2007.

John Healey: The department did not charge media organisations.

Mortality Statistics

Tony Baldry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people died as a result of a stroke in  (a) 2003,  (b) 2004,  (c) 2005 and (d) 2006.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 30 January 2007:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many people died as a result of strokes in (a) 2003, (b) 2004, (c) 2005 and (d) 2006.(111832)
	The most recent year for which figures are available is 2005. The table below shows the number of deaths from strokes in England and Wales for the years 2003 to 2005.
	
		
			  Number of deaths from strokes( 1)  England and Wales, 2003 to 2005( 2) 
			   Number of deaths 
			 2003 57,808 
			 2004 52,899 
			 2005 50,772 
			 (1) Selected using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-IO) codes 160-169. (2) Figures are for occurrences of death in each calendar year.

Official Visits

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the  (a) destination,  (b) purpose and  (c) cost was of each overseas visit made by membersof the Performance and Efficiency Team in his Department in the last two months.

John Healey: This information is not held centrally.

Open Source Software

David Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of his Department's computer systems use open source software; what percentage of the systems planned to be installed use such software; and whether he plans to increase the use of open source software in his Department.

John Healey: Less than 1 per cent. of HM Treasury's desktop and laptop PCs use open source software.6 per cent. of the Department's servers use open source software. The use of open source software is less than1 per cent. in planned computer systems.
	HM Treasury follows the Government's published policy, considering open source solutions alongside proprietary ones in IT procurements, and awarding contracts on a value for money basis. The policy can be viewed at the UK Govtalk website.

Special Advisers

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many  (a) paid and  (b) unpaid special advisers he has appointed since the written ministerial statement made by the Prime Minister on 24 July 2006,  Official Report, column 87WS, on special advisers.

John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave him on 31 October 2006,  Official Report,column 318W and 6 December 2006,  Official Report, column 486W.

Statistics: Stroud

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what level of gross domestic product was recorded in the nomenclature of units for territorial statistics areas most closely corresponding to  (a) Stroud district council and  (b) Stroud constituency in each of the last five years.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 30 January 2007:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question on gross domestic product (GDP) for the nomenclature of units for territorial statistics (NUTS) area most closely corresponding to  (a) Stroud District Council and  (b) Stroud constituency in each of the last five years. (111090)
	Stroud district council and Stroud constituency are in the NUTS level 3 region of Gloucestershire. Office for National Statistics (ONS) do not publish regional GDP but do publish estimates of regional gross value added (GVA)(l) for the NUTS3 areas, for the period 1995 to 2004. Estimates of NUTS3 GVA, including data for Gloucestershire, were published in December 2006. The GVA for Gloucestershire for the last five years are given in the following table:
	(1) Gross Value Added (GVA) is Gross Domestic Product (GDP) less taxes (plus subsidies) on products.
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Gross value added for Gloucestershire 
			 2000 8,185 
			 2001 8,791 
			 2002 9,511 
			 2003 10,330 
			 2004 11,104

Electoral Administration

Clive Betts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps she plans to take to monitor the performance of electoral administrators under the Electoral AdministrationAct 2006.

Bridget Prentice: The power to establish and monitor performance standards for the provision of electoral services is given to the Electoral Commission under section 67 of the Electoral Administration Act 2006. We will clearly wish to see the results of the performance monitoring once the standards have been established and implemented.

British Food

James Paice: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what proportion of food served in buildings occupied by her Department was of British origin in  (a) 2005 and  (b) 2006.

Harriet Harman: My Department has contracted out catering services that are provided chiefly in court buildings. Based on information provided by the four suppliers involved, the proportion of food of British origin served in 2005 was 80 per cent. to 10 per cent. for eggs and milk products; 90 per cent. for cheeses; 78 per cent. to 100 per cent. for root vegetables; 20 per cent. to 69 per cent. for salad vegetables; 12.5 per cent. to50 per cent. for fruit; 50 per cent. to 60 per cent. for fish; 77 per cent. to 100 per cent. for bakery products; 76 per cent. to 100 per cent. for chicken; 40 per cent. to 100 per cent. for beef; 52 per cent. to 100 per cent. for lamb; 20 per cent. to 100 per cent. for bacon and pork.
	Information available shows that these figures remain unchanged in 2006.

Court Televisions

Philip Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2007,  Official Report, column 870W, on court televisions, how many television displays in court rooms were paid for by the police; and when she expects all magistrates courts to have television displays.

Harriet Harman: The police are not responsible for the purchase of television displays in the courtrooms. The television displays in court have been purchased locally by the courts or through centrally funded HMCS initiatives. By March 2007, 266 of the 344 magistrates courts will have television displays available in the courtroom. Further television displays will be purchased if needed by the business.

Electoral Registration

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much funding was allocated to each local authority area for registration of electors in 2006-07.

Bridget Prentice: In addition, to funding already provided by the Department for Communities and Local Government in order for local authorities to perform registration activities, additional funding has been provided in light of the new obligations introduced under the Electoral Administration Act, of which registration of electors is one.
	£19.9 million has been transferred to English Local Authorities in 2006-07 and £1.2 million will be transferred to the National Assembly for Wales in 2006-07. The same sums will be transferred in 2007-08. In addition, up to £12.2 million for the new absent vote personal identifier arrangements will be provided over 2006-07 and 2007-08. The exact sum will depend on the number of electors on absent voter lists on 1 January 2007 and on postal voting volumes on 3 May 2007.

Fines

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many and what percentage of fines issued by courts were unpaid in each of the last five years, broken down by the category of offence for which they were issued.

Harriet Harman: Information on fines imposed and collected is provided by the 42 HMCS court areas in England and Wales. The current payment rate for financial impositions for the 2006-07 year-to-date (April-November) is 90 per cent., against a target of83 per cent. The following table shows the payment rate for the last five years.
	Data are collected on the value of financial penalties (including fines) imposed and outstanding. Figures relating to categories of offence are not held centrally and could be made available only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Financial year  Fine payment rate—England and Wales (Percentage) 
			 2000-01 63 
			 2001-02 59 
			 2002-03 55 
			 2003-04 74 
			 2004-05 80 
			 2005-06 83 
			 2006-07 year-to-date (April-November) 90 
			 Payment rate = amount paid divided by new net amount owed 
		
	
	The primary performance indicator is the payment rate. It is defined as the amount paid into court as a percentage of the new net amount owed. Methods of calculating the new net amounts owed have changed a number of times and are detailed as follows:
	September 1999 to March 2003—new net amount owed includes legally cancelled amounts, civil monies and confiscation orders.
	April 2003 to December 2003—new net amount owed excludes legally cancelled amounts, civil monies and confiscation orders.
	January 2004 to July 2004—new net amount owed excludes legally cancelled amounts, administratively cancelled amounts, civil monies and confiscation orders.
	July 2004 onwards—new net amount owed excludes legally cancelled amounts, administratively cancelled amounts, civil monies and confiscation orders, but includes amounts written back.
	From April 2003 onwards, confiscation and civil amounts have not been included in any of the enforcement calculations. It is not possible to separate those elements out from the figures before that date.As a result of these revisions, direct year-on-year comparisons cannot be made.

Open Source Software

David Gauke: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what percentage of her Department's computer systems use open source software; what percentage of the systems planned to be installed use such software; and whether she plans to increase the use of open source software in her Department.

Harriet Harman: Open source software is used in my Department alongside other non-open source software on a range of different technology platforms, and it is not possible to calculate the percentages attributable to each type of software.
	My Department will continue to consider open source solutions on an overall value for money basisin accordance with the Government's 2004 policy statement.

Deregulated Bus Services

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of passenger satisfaction with deregulated bus services.

Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport has conducted a bus passenger satisfaction survey in England outside London every quarter since 2000-01. The average rating for overall service in 2005-06 is83 out of 100.

Buses

Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his Department's response to the Committee of Public Accounts' 43(rd )Report of 2005-06, whether his Department is assessing the merits of requiring bus operators to report their performance data to the Traffic Commissioners and the public in its review of legislative and other aspects of bus operation outside London.

Gillian Merron: On 12 December the Government published their proposals for a modernised national framework for bus services in the document 'Putting Passengers First'. This document sets out a rangeof proposals to improve bus services, including anew performance regime where operators provide performance data to their local Traffic Commissioner, and where local authorities, as well as operators, canbe held to account for their contribution to the performance of local bus services.

Departmental Expenditure

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much programme expenditure sponsored by his Department was spent via each of the Government offices for the regions in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Gillian Merron: A complete answer to this question cannot be given as the information is not currentlyheld centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.
	The Transport for London grant is paid via the Government office for London. The 2005-06 spend figure was £2,180 million (£1,161 million on London Underground and £1,019 million on other transport).

Leeds Traffic Area Office

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the  (a) original planned date was and  (b) revised date is for centralising licensing works to the Leeds Traffic Area Office.

Stephen Ladyman: It was originally planned to centralise the administration of the operator licensing system for goods and public service vehicles by 31 March 2007. This work would include the processing of applications and the issuing of licences under delegated authorityof the traffic commissioners. All processing of applications was transferred in the week beginning22 January 2007 and it remains the intention to complete the transfer by 31 March 2007.

Motorcycles: Accidents

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many accidents involving 16-year-olds driving 50cc motorcycles there were in each of the last 15 years; and what percentage of traffic accidents in each year each figure represents.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			  Personal injury road accidents reported to the police involving 16-year-olds riding motorcycles 50cc or less GB: 1991 to 2005 
			   Number of accidents  As a percentage of all injury accidents 
			 1991 1,171 0.50 
			 1992 870 0.37 
			 1993 680 0.30 
			 1994 577 0.25 
			 1995 591 0.26 
			 1996 579 0.25 
			 1997 606 0.25 
			 1998 621 0.26 
			 1999 1,063 0.45 
			 2000 1,366 0.58 
			 2001 1,698 0.74 
			 2002 (1)1,783 0.80 
			 2003 1,876 0.88 
			 2004 1,997 0.96 
			 2005 1,953 0.98 
			 (1) Figure corrected from previous answer—15 January 2007, O fficial Report, columns 755-6W.

Railway Stations: Disabled Access

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consultations have taken place with people with disabilities on access and facilities for passengers and other users of Llandaff Station, Cardiff.

Tom Harris: holding answer 29 January 2007
	The Department for Transport does not hold information centrally on all consultations that take place relating to access and facilities at particular railway stations. Ministers and officials consult regularly with the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee and other groups on issues affecting disabled people at railway stations.

Railway Stations: Disabled Access

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action he plans to take to improve access for people with disabilities at Llandaff Station, Cardiff.

Tom Harris: holding answer 29 January 2007
	On 23 March 2006 the Government launched the Railways for All Strategy which sets out what the rail industry is doing to improve access to Britain's railways, particularly for people with disabilities. Central to the strategy is the £370 million Access for All funding, ring fenced to improve accessibility at railway stations up to 2015.
	The majority of the funding (£315 million) is targeted at the busiest stations and the works are being delivered by Network Rail. To date the Department has announced 92 stations in England and Wales for Network Rail to prioritise for access improvements up to 2011. Later this year we are planning to publish a third tranche of stations for inclusion within the Access for All programme for delivery between 2012 and 2015. Llandaff will be considered for inclusion in this tranche alongside all other eligible stations.
	In addition, up to £7 million a year is available as Small Schemes Funding for train operating companies and local authorities to bid for match funding to make access improvements at local stations. The Department has not received any Small Schemes bids for improvements at Llandaff station.

Railway Stations: Disabled Access

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many railway stations within the boundaries of the City of Cardiff give wheelchair access for disabled people to both up and down line trains.

Tom Harris: holding answer 29 January 2007
	The Department for Transport does not hold this information centrally. Information about wheelchair access at railway stations is provided by the Association of Train Operating Companies on the national rail website (www.nationalrail.co.uk).

Recruitment Agencies

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department paid to recruitment agencies for the hire of temporary staff in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Department was formed in May 2002. The following table represents how much the Department and its agencies paid to recruitment agencies for the hire of temporary staff in the following years.
	The table does not include Vehicle and Operator Services Agency. I would refer the hon. Member to the annual report, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.
	
		
			  £ 
			 2002-03 2,567,876 
			 2003-04 6,494,095 
			 2004-05 7,291,909 
			 2005-06(1) 6,395,966 
			 2006-07(1) (2)1,171,459 
			 (1) The Government Car and Despatch Agency have provided for years 2005-06 and 2006-07. Figures for earlier years are not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.  (2) To date

Access to Work

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of the access to work scheme among small and medium-sized employers;
	(2)  what percentage of  (a) small and  (b) medium-sized employers are aware of the access to work scheme; and how many were aware of the scheme in each of the last five years;
	(3)  how much his Department has spent in each of the last five years on advertising and promotional work to raise awareness of the access to work scheme among small and medium-sized employers.

Anne McGuire: Information about access to work is already available to employers in leaflets designed especially for them. The leaflets are freely available from Jobcentre Plus offices. The information is also given on the Jobcentre Plus website and Direct Gov website.
	Jobcentre Plus does not keep access to work records by type of employer. Disability employment advisers, who are often the gateway to access to work, are regularly in contact with employers locally and will raise awareness of access to work when appropriate.
	There has been no advertising and promotional work specifically targeted at small and medium sized employers in the last five years. However, Jobcentre Plus does market access to work as part of its general marketing strategy and has spent around £125,000 on marketing in disability magazines in 2005-06.

Benefit Disqualification

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many unemployed non-disabled  (a) male and  (b) female workers aged (i) 20 to 29, (ii) 30 to 39, (iii) 40 to 49 and (iv) 50 to 59 years had their benefit disqualified for (A) two weeks, (B) four weeks, (C) 13 weeks and (D) 26 weeks in the last 12 months; and what the equivalent figures were in 2001-02.

Jim Murphy: There are a range of circumstances in which sanctions can be imposed. Those sanctions can be of varying lengths. Information on fixed length sanctions are shown in the following tables.
	
		
			  Number of non-disabled individuals with JSA sanctions 1 August 2001 to 31 July 2002 
			   Fixed length sanctions 
			   2 weeks  4 weeks  26 weeks 
			  Female
			 20-29 1,020 160 50 
			 30-39 90 30 0 
			 40-49 60 10 0 
			 50-59 30 0 0 
			 
			  Male
			 20-29 5,990 960 500 
			 30-39 1,280 210 70 
			 40-49 600 90 40 
			 50-59 140 20 0 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of non-disabled individuals with JSA sanctions 1 August 2005 to 31 July 2006 
			   Fixed length sanctions 
			   2 weeks  4 weeks  26 weeks 
			  Female
			 20-29 1,250 170 60 
			 30-39 110 20 10 
			 40-49 100 10 0 
			 50-59 30 10 0 
			 
			  Male
			 20-29 6,560 1,050 350 
			 30-39 1,340 230 90 
			 40-49 820 140 60 
			 50-59 170 30 0 
			  Notes:  1. Individuals and decisions based figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals may not sum due to rounding method used.  2. Most recent sanction is shown for each individual.  3. Disability status: disability is self-assessed as having a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.  4. There are no set 13-week sanctions.   Source:  DWP Information Directorate: JSA Sanctions and Disallowances Decisions Statistics Database. Data is cumulative from April 2000 to current data extract date.

Benefit Fraud

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many fines were issued for benefit fraud in each year for which figures are available; and how much was received from such fines in each year.

James Plaskitt: Information regarding the value of fines is not available. The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Fines imposed by court and administrative penalties imposed by DWP 
			   Fines imposed by court  Administrative penalties 
			   Benefit cases( 1)  Instrument of payment fraud  Benefit cases( 1)  Instrument of payment fraud 
			 1999-2000 1,710 333 5,409 72 
			 2000-01 2,074 577 7,575 139 
			 2001-02 1,854 520 6,422 100 
			 2002-03 1,555 453 7,061 128 
			 2003-04 1,432 396 7,882 146 
			 2004-05 1,301 325 8,217 293 
			 2005-06 1,083 168 10,433 437 
			 (1) Not including instrument of payment fraud.  Note: Figures include General Matching Service cases.  Source: Fraud Information by Sector.

Benefit Fraud

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many full-time equivalent fraud investigators his Department employs; and how many customer compliance officers his Department employed in each year since 2004.

James Plaskitt: From April 2006 the National Fraud Investigation Service (FIS) was launched to combat fraud through a more focused, sanction orientated organisation. In addition, from April 2006 we introduced new Customer Compliance Officers to tackle low-level abuse that cannot be taken through the criminal courts. There are currently 810 full-time equivalent staff employed in the Customer Compliance process. Information regarding the number of DWP fraud investigators is in the following table.
	
		
			  DWP fraud investigators (full-time equivalents) 
			  April to March each year:  Number 
			 2004-05 1,843.5 
			 2005-06 1,744.1 
			  Source:  Fraud Business Report 
		
	
	
		
			  DWP fraud investigations 
			   DWP successful prosecutions  DWP cautions and administrative penalties  Total 
			 2004-05 8,573 18,505 27,078 
			 2005-06 8,858 21,413 30,271

Benefit Fraud

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many fraud inspectors there were in his Department to investigate  (a) incapacity benefit fraud and  (b) other benefit fraud in each year since 2004.

James Plaskitt: From April 2006 the National Fraud Investigation Service (FIS) was launched to combat fraud through a more focused, sanction orientated organisation. In addition, from April 2006 we introduced new Customer Compliance Officers to tackle low-level abuse that cannot be taken through the criminal courts.
	Benefit fraud investigators in the Department for Work and Pensions deal with allegations of benefit fraud relating to all benefits administered by this Department. We do not employ a specific number of staff to investigate incapacity benefit.
	
		
			  DWP fraud investigators (full-time equivalents) 
			   Number 
			 April 2004 to March 2005 1,843.5 
			 April 2005 to March 2006 1,744.1 
			  Source: Fraud Business Report 
		
	
	
		
			  DWP fraud investigations 
			   2004-05  2005-06 
			 DWP successful prosecutions 8,573 8,858 
			 DWP cautions and administrative penalties 18,505 21,413 
			 Total 27,078 30,271

Benefit Overpayments

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much overpayment his Department recovered in each benefit in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

James Plaskitt: The information requested is in the following tables:
	
		
			  2001-02 
			  Benefit  £ 
			 Income Support 106,697,306 
			 Retirement Pension 16,071,753 
			 Child Benefit 12,197,647 
			 JSA Income Based 10,874,478 
			 Incapacity Benefit 8,848,884 
			 Invalid Care Allowance 8,612,812 
			 Attendance Allowance 8,455,373 
			 Disability Living Allowance 5,503,432 
			 Supplementary Benefit 2,517,179 
			 Family Credit 2,281,859 
			 Widows Benefit 2,060,054 
			 Invalidity Benefit 1,633,556 
			 Severe Disablement Allowance 667,286 
			 All Others 1,578,382 
			 Total 188,000,000 
		
	
	
		
			  2002-03 
			  Benefit  £ 
			 Income Support 107,815,912 
			 Retirement Pension 15,027,862 
			 Child Benefit 13,011,176 
			 JSA Income Based 10,465,796 
			 Incapacity Benefit 9,366,763 
			 Attendance Allowance 8,652,332 
			 Invalid Care Allowance 7,741,619 
			 Disability Living Allowance 6,397,545 
			 Supplementary Benefit 2,266,228 
			 Housing Benefit 2,191,025 
			 Widows Benefit 1,843,593 
			 Family Credit 1,651,163 
			 Invalidity Benefit 1,522,511 
			 All Others 2,046,476 
			 Total 190,000,000 
		
	
	
		
			  2003-04 
			  Benefit  £ 
			 Income Support 109,139,417 
			 Retirement Pension 15,090,821 
			 JSA Income Based 12,713,974 
			 Incapacity Benefit 79,211 
			 Attendance Allowance 10,373,746 
			 Disability Living Allowance 8,012,299 
			 Invalid Care Allowance 7,805,497 
			 Housing Benefit 3,006,450 
			 Supplementary Benefit 2,006,181 
			 Invalidity Benefit 1,378,055 
			 Widows Benefit 1,276,144 
			 Family Credit 901,600 
			 Severe Disablement Allowance 719,858 
			 All Others 1,429,747 
			 Total 184,233,000 
		
	
	The reduction in recoveries reflected the transfer of child benefit to the then Inland Revenue.
	
		
			  2004-05 
			  Benefit  £ 
			 Income Support 103,971,529 
			 Retirement Pension 17,035,129 
			 JSA Income Based 13,202,618 
			 Attendance Allowance 11,911,040 
			 Incapacity Benefit 11,647,163 
			 Disability Living Allowance 9,262,766 
			 Invalid Care Allowance 7,210,631 
			 Housing Benefit 3,348,030 
			 Pension Credit 2,921,552 
			 Supplementary Benefit 1,973,086 
			 Invalidity Benefit 1,343,996 
			 Widows Benefit 1 073,049 
			 Carers Allowance 1,010,712 
			 All Others 2,932,698 
			 Total 188,844,000 
		
	
	
		
			  2005-06 
			  Benefit  £ 
			 Income Support 100,018,285 
			 Retirement Pension 16,235,280 
			 JSA Income Based 12,482,730 
			 Attendance Allowance 11,261,577 
			 Incapacity Benefit 11,012,089 
			 Disability Living Allowance 8,757,703 
			 Invalid Care Allowance 6,817,464 
			 Housing Benefit 3,165,475 
			 Pension Credit 2,762,251 
			 Supplementary Benefit 1,865,501 
			 Invalidity Benefit 1,270,713 
			 Widows Benefit 1,014,540 
			 Carers Allowance 955,602 
			 Others 2,772,790 
			 Total 180,392,000 
		
	
	In the seven months since April 2006, a total of £123.28 million has been recovered.
	In recovering an overpayment of benefit, the Department seeks to do so without causing excessive hardship to our claimants. In a majority of cases, recovery will be an ongoing basis, with the average overpayment taking approximately three years to recover.
	In April 2001, the Department initiated the debt programme to bring about increased focus on the management and recovery of benefit overpayments.
	Since then, benefit debt recovery has been centralised in 10 debt centres, and in February 2006 a new computer system was rolled out to support the debt centres.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Edward O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of people who reached the first anniversary in receipt of jobseeker's allowance in the most recent year for which figures are available were in work  (a) one year and  (b) two years later; and how many there were (i) in total, (ii) aged 25 to 49 and (iii) aged over 50 years.

James Plaskitt: The available information is in the following table and represents the minimum numbers and proportions of people who satisfy the given criteria.
	
		
			  New claims for jobseeker's allowance, April 2004 to March 2005 
			   Proportion (Percentage)  Total  Aged 25 to 49  Aged 50 and over 
			 In work six months later 39 672,650 331,960 99,150 
			 In work one year later 43 740,130 366,520 107,540 
			  Notes: 1. Data on employment is available to 26 November 2006. As such, the latest operational year of new claimants for which  (a) and  (c) are answerable is April 2004 to March 2005, and the latest operational year of claims reaching their first anniversary for which  (b) and  (d) are answerable is April 2003 to March 2004 (and thus relates to people making a new claim during April 2002 and March 2003). 2. The figures quoted in this response come from data in the National Benefits Database and the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS). 3. Figures in this response are based upon periods of employment measured from the WPLS, which is based on data from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The figures given can only be taken as a minimum for the following (not necessarily comprehensive) reasons: (i) Some records show that a person started or ended employment at some point in the year, but the exact date on when they started or left their job is unknown, and therefore we do not know if they were employed at the points in time specified in this query. (ii) If a person's earnings are sufficiently low that they fall below the lower income tax threshold and so are not required to pay PAYE income tax on their earnings then there is no requirement to inform HMRC of their employment (although some employers declare these jobs anyway). (iii) This data does not include the self-employed. (iv) Poor quality personal data may lead to missed matches with benefits data. (v) No 'HMRC sensitive and secure' information is supplied by HMRC (for example, HMRC employees, members of the security services).

Unemployment Benefits

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on unemployment benefits in  (a) 1997 and  (b) the latest year for which figures are available.

James Plaskitt: The information is in the following tables.
	
		
			  Unemployment benefits expenditure 
			  cash terms (£ million) 
			   1997-98( 1)  2005-06( 2) 
			 Jobseeker's allowance—income-based 3,418 1,800 
			 Jobseeker's allowance—contribution-based 475 489 
			 Total 3,893 2,289 
			 (1 )Outturn (2 )Estimated outturn 
		
	
	
		
			  Unemployment benefits expenditure 
			  real terms 2006-07 prices (£ million) 
			   1997-98( 1)  2005-06( 2) 
			 Jobseeker's allowance—income-based 4,201 1,844 
			 Jobseeker's allowance—contribution-based 584 500 
			 Total 4,785 2,344 
			 (1 )Outturn (2 )Estimated outturn  Notes: All figures have been rounded to the nearest million pounds. All information is consistent with the Budget report 2006.  Source: DWP expenditure Tables 3, 4 and 7

Welfare Benefits

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which welfare benefits are administered by his Department; and what the level of overpayment of each has been in the last five years.

James Plaskitt: The main benefits administered by this Department are listed as follows:
	Attendance allowance
	Bereavement benefits, which include widowed parent's allowance and bereavement allowance.
	Carer's allowance
	Disability living allowance
	Incapacity benefit
	Income support
	Industrial injuries disablement benefit
	Industrial death benefit
	Jobseeker's allowance
	Maternity allowance
	Pension credit
	State pension
	Severe disablement allowance
	Widows benefits, including widowed mother's allowance and widow's pension.
	Some of the aforementioned benefits have been replaced and are no longer available to new claimants.
	The following table shows the level of overpayment in the main benefits. Some linked benefits have been combined for the purposes of the table.
	The table represents only those overpayments that have been identified and recorded on departmental systems. During this period, the majority of overpayments that arose due to official error, were not formally calculated and entered onto systems. As part of an agreement with HMT, their value was estimated and recorded separately.
	
		
			  Level of overpayments identified and entered on systems, as a percentage of the relevant expenditure for each benefit 
			  Percentage 
			  Benefit  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Attendance allowance 0.46 0.40 0.48 0.42 0.24 
			 Disability living allowance 0.19 0.17 0.19 0.20 0.23 
			 Invalidity and incapacity benefits 0.31 0.33 0.39 0.40 0.41 
			 Income support 1.39 1.26 1.03 1.65 2.18 
			 Industrial injuries benefits 0.07 0.06 0.03 0.05 0.08 
			 Invalid care and carers allowances 0.88 0.75 0.73 1.27 1.07 
			 Jobseekers allowance 0.85 0.85 0.89 1.20 1.07 
			 Maternity allowance 0.07 0.06 0.05 0.07 0.07 
			 Pension credit(1) — — — 0.09 0.21 
			 Retirement/state pension 0.07 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.07 
			 Severe disablement allowance 0.12 0.15 0.14 0.11 0.14 
			 Widows and bereavement benefits 0.31 0.28 0.18 0.23 0.30 
			 (1) Pension credit was introduced in October 2003.  Note: Overpayment data for pension credit in 2003-04 included in income support data.

Audiology

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been allocated to  (a) research in audiology and  (b) new audiology equipment in (i) 2006-07 and (ii) each of the next two financial years.

Ivan Lewis: The Medical Research Council (MRC) is one of the main agencies through which the UK Government support medical and clinical research.
	Total MRC expenditure on hearing research in 2004-05, the latest year for which figures are available, was £4.8 million.
	The Department funds research to support policy and to provide the evidence needed to underpin quality improvement and service development in the national health service. The Department's national research programmes will spend some £302,000 in 2006-07 on projects related to audiology.
	Over 75 per cent. of the Department's total expenditure on health research is devolved to and managed by NHS organisations. Details of individual projects, including a significant number concerned with audiology, are available on the national research register at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/research.
	It is for local providers to plan and commission appropriate services for their local population this includes how much is allocated for new audiology equipment in each financial year.
	In 2006-07, the Department allocated an NHS central revenue budget of £5.5 billion across all the strategic health authorities (SHAs). It is the responsibility of SHAs to reach agreement with their local NHS trusts and primary care trusts over the allocation of these resources, including those for audiology, to best meet local need.
	In addition capital allocations for audiology services in 2006-07 amounted to £26 million.
	The NHS operating framework, published in December 2006 confirmed that there would be another SHA bundle of central budgets for 2007-08 with a proposed value of £6,945.9 million, to include audiology. The 2007-08 bundle will be supplemented by a service level agreement between the Department and the SHAs. This agreement will include details of the services to be provided from the bundle, and governance and accountability arrangements.

Carers

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps she is taking to ensure that  (a) voluntary sector organisations' independence is not compromised in relation to their advocacy role for carers and  (b) when carrying out carers' assessments under contract to local authorities such arrangements do not lead to statutory carers' assessments being viewed as less important by statutory service providers;
	(2)  how many local authorities have put out to tender their statutory carers' assessments to voluntary sector organisations; and what assessment she has made on the outcome for carers of putting such assessments out to tender;
	(3)  if she will take steps to encourage local authorities to put out to tender statutory carers' assessments to voluntary sector organisations.

Ivan Lewis: The duty to carry out a carer's assessment, if requested, lies with the local authority and cannot be delegated except to an national health service body as part of partnership arrangements under section 31 of the Health Act 1999.
	A local authority may arrange for the actual process of carrying out the assessment to be undertaken by a voluntary organisation on their behalf. However, the authority remains responsible for ensuring that each assessment is valid, fair and comprehensive and for considering the implications of the assessment for its provision of services.
	The number of local authorities who have made arrangements for voluntary sector organisations to assist them by carrying out the process of statutory carers' assessments is not held centrally. We have made no assessment on the outcome for carers of involving voluntary sector organisations in this way. In addition, we have no plans to take steps to encouragelocal authorities to arrange for the process of assessments to be carried out by voluntary sector organisations.
	It is for voluntary sector organisations to satisfy themselves that their independence and any advocacy function that they have is not compromised by their involvement in carers' assessments.
	Regardless of who carries out the process of an assessment, local authorities retain the statutory responsibility for those assessments. Local authorities should therefore treat the results of those assessments in precisely the same way as they would those carried out by their own staff.

Child Obesity

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children in England were  (a) overweight and  (b) obese in the last period for which figures are available.

Caroline Flint: The latest data available for the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children is from the Health Survey for England 2005. The data showed that in England, 15.7 per cent. of boys aged two to 15 were classed as overweight (but not obese), and 18.3 per cent. were classed as obese. Among girls aged two to 15, 12.9 per cent. were classed as overweight (but not obese), and 18.3 per cent. were classed as obese.
	 Source:
	Health Survey for England—updating of trend tables to include 2005 data. The Information Centre

Diamorphine

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2006,  Official Report, column 1707W, on diamorphine, 
	(1)  how much diamorphine is held in reserve in the UK; and how much diamorphine was required by the NHS in 2006;
	(2)  what shortages of diamorphine are being experienced by the NHS.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 22 January 2007
	Both suppliers of diamorphine to the United Kingdom are working to their full available capacity, and are supplying the market on a regular and frequent basis. They are currently unable to produce enough to meet historic demand, although that demand may have changed due to changes in prescribing practice. We expect the situation to improve during 2007. and in the meantime we believe that through careful prescribing and use of available stocks, patient care is not being compromised. This is part because we arranged for the increased production and availability of alternative drugs such as morphine when the problem arose in December 2004.
	The amount of diamorphine held in the supply chain at any one time varies, according to a number of factors including the manufacturers' production schedules. All presentations are currently available.
	The value of dispensing for 2005, the most recent year for which figures are available, shows that thenet ingredient cost for community dispensing was£18.0 million and estimated hospital cost was£17.9 million.

Independent Sector Providers

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the evidential basis was for the statement by the primary care trusts of Lancashire and Cumbria that independent sector providers can provide clinical assessment treatment and support services at better value for money than existing NHS trusts.

Andy Burnham: The clinical assessment, treatment and support (CATS) services for Cumbria and Lancashire will provide clinical consultations, diagnostic tests and minor treatment on one site. Patients using CATS services are likely to attend health services on fewer occasions than under a traditional out-patient care pathway, resulting in lower costs.

Independent Sector Providers

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will estimate the proportion of NHS funds provided to independent sector providers of clinical assessment treatment and support services likely to be paid out in dividends.

Andy Burnham: As private companies, the payment of dividends by the independent sector provider is dependent upon financial performance of the company, investment decisions and shareholders' resolutions. It is not possible to link payments for the clinical assessment and treatment services (CATS) to any interim or final dividend paid out by the company.
	The CATS scheme aims to deliver value for money to the local health economy by procuring cost-effective triaging of general practitioner referrals and a range of diagnostics capacity. Primary care trusts will pay national health service tariff for these services.

Medicines and Healthcare Products

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  for what reasons she proposes to increase Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency fees above inflation; and what account was taken of the April 2006 increase in fees in making such proposals;
	(2)  when she expects  (a) consultation MLX 335 on Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency fees will be closed and  (b) fee levels for 2007-08 to be implemented;
	(3)  what discussions Ministers have had with  (a) pharmaceutical companies and  (b) representative bodies on the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency's proposals to increase fees in April 2007.

Caroline Flint: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is required, as a trading fund, to recover the costs of its medicines regulatory functions through fee income. The agency is required to assess cost pressures to ensure that fee income can fully recover costs. Fees levels were subject to significant increases in April 2006 following new legislation that expanded the agency's responsibilities in order more effectively to protect public health. In recognition of this, the agency's aim has been to keep fees increases for the coming year to the lowest possible level. The proposals set out in the agency's consultation document (MLX 335) include some fees where no increase is proposed—for instance, for wholesale dealers, and for companies who adopt the new international standard for electronic licence applications, which will have speed and efficiency benefits for both the agency and pharmaceutical companies. The average rate of the proposed increases, across the agency's business, is 4.9 per cent. The income from these increases will cover pay and other cost increases, but will in particular be focused on supporting the agency's ability to deliver further improvements in the service it provides to companies—something the industry has said it would wish to see. The consultation paper, and its supporting draft regulatory impact assessment, covers these issues in further detail.
	The consultation on MIX 335 closes on 5 February 2007 with a proposed implementation date for the new fee levels on 1 April 2007.
	Representatives from MHRA have held extensive discussions with industry associations both before the start of the consultation period and after its publication. These discussions included the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, the Propriety Association of Great Britain, the British Generic Manufacturers Association, the BioIndustry Association and the Ethical Medicines Industry Group. A further meeting with all these associations will take place on 30 January. Ministers have met pharmaceutical industry representatives on a number of occasions in recent months. The issue of MHRA fees has not been raised in those discussions.

Medicines and Healthcare Products

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment her Department has made of the impact that the time taken by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to process applications has had on when pharmaceutical products reach the market.

Caroline Flint: The time taken by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for the assessment and determination of applicationsfor licensing of medicinal products, and for their subsequent variation, lengthened for most product types during 2006. This was as a result of a number of operational difficulties primarily related to the introduction of a new electronic data and document management system.
	The MHRA has introduced a number of steps to improve its performance in this respect and these changes are now beginning to take effect. Following discussion with representatives of the medicines trade associations a number of new performance measures have been agreed and these are soon to be published on the MHRA's website,
	www.mhra.gov.uk.
	During this difficult period the MHRA has tried to ensure that any delays in its work did not prevent the placing on the market of essential medicines. Where necessary product licence applications and variations for such medicines were prioritised and then processed as rapidly as possible.

Ministerial Visits

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which hospitals located in constituencies represented by Conservative hon. Members  (a) she and  (b) other Ministers in her Department have visited since May 2005; and on which dates such visits took place.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 22 January 2007
	Information on which hospitals the Secretary of State for Heath and Ministers in the Department have visited which are located in constituencies represented by Conservative hon. Members and the date of the visits are shown in the table.
	
		
			   Minister  Hospital  Constituency 
			  2005
			 26 May Patricia Hewitt Hinchingbrooke Hospital Huntingdon 
			 31 May Patricia Hewitt Queen Elizabeth Hospital North West Norfolk 
			 7 June Patricia Hewitt Scarborough District General Hospital Scarborough and Whitby 
			 27 June Patricia Hewitt St. Bartholomew's Hospital Cities of London and Westminster 
			 15 July Rosie Winterton Castle Hill Hospital Haltemprice and Howden 
			 19 July Jane Kennedy Hinckley and Bosworth Community Hospital Bosworth 
			 27 July Rosie Winterton St. Mary's Hospital Cities of London and Westminster 
			 3 November Lord Warner Hillingdon Hospital Uxbridge 
			 9 November Rosie Winterton St. Bartholomew's Hospital Cities of London and Westminster 
			 24 November Jane Kennedy Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Kensington and Chelsea 
			 13 December Rosie Winterton Broadmoor Hospital Bracknell 
			 
			  2006
			 30 January Lord Warner Beckenham Hospital Beckenham 
			 2 March Rosie Winterton South Essex Partnership Rochford and Southend East 
			 11 March Rosie Winterton University College Hospital London Cities of London and Westminster 
			 1 June Andy Burnham Princess Royal Hospital Mid Sussex 
			 1 June Andy Burnham Royal Berkshire Hospital Reading East 
			 1 June Andy Burnham Salisbury Hospital Salisbury 
			 20 June Lord Warner St. Bartholomew's Hospital Cities of London and Westminster 
			 26 June Patricia Hewitt Cambridge Mental Health Trust Huntingdon 
			 24 July Andy Burnham Barnet and Chase Farm Hospital Chipping Barnet 
			 25 July Patricia Hewitt Cirencester Hospital Cotswold 
			 27 July Andy Burnham Peterborough District Hospital Peterborough 
			 12 September Andy Burnham Newark Hospital Newark 
			 10 October Rosie Winterton Oxleas National Health Service Foundation Trust Hospital Bromley and Chislehurst 
			 18 October Rosie Winterton Oldchurch Hospital Romford

Social Enterprise Pathfinders

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what discussions took place with regional development agencies in determining social enterprise pathfinder programmes;
	(2)  what advice was received from educational institutions and learning and skills councils in determining social enterprise pathfinder programmes;
	(3)  which external bodies were consulted in determining social enterprise pathfinder programmes;
	(4)  what liaison there was with other Government Departments in determining social enterprise pathfinder programme areas.

Ivan Lewis: The social enterprise pathfinder programme is a Department of Health programme, which supports the development of social enterprises in health and social care.
	Departmental officials have discussed the work of the social enterprise unit, including the pathfinder programme, with representatives from the regional development agencies, Officials have also liaised with other Government Departments, including the Office of the Third Sector and the Department of Communities and Local Government, and other external bodies about the pathfinder programme generally, but not about the selection of individual pathfinders.
	There has been no formal discussion with educational institutions and learning and skills councils. However, the Department asked strategic health authorities to discuss the pathfinder applications with regional stakeholders, including regional development agencies.

Target Savings: Milton Keynes PCT

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the target savings at Milton Keynes Primary Care Trust are in the  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08 financial years, broken down by workstream.

Andy Burnham: The information requested for the financial year 2006-07 is contained in the following table. The Department does not yet have the information requested for 2007-08 as the organisation has not yet produced its turnaround plan for that financial year.
	The primary care trust (PCT) is receiving on-going support from a local project management office function and was assisted by an external consultant company in the development of its turnaround plan. Implementation of the plan is being closely performance managed by the strategic health authority turnaround director and the National Programme Office (NPO).
	The latest progress report submitted to the NPO indicates that the PCT is targeting gross in-year savings of £16.0 million. The progress report dated 8 January indicates that the primary care trust has achieved £4.5 million to date out of a target £4.6 million (month nine) and the current forecast in-year outturn is a £8.8 million deficit.
	
		
			  Milton Keynes PCT month nine savings 
			  £000 
			  Workstream title  Year to date actual savings  Full year revised target 
			 Provider services—decommission services — — 
			 Provider services—decommission services — — 
			 Provider services—service redesign 537 727 
			 Provider services—service redesign (repatriation) 12 49 
			 Provider services—efficiency measures 614 760 
			 Provider services—efficiency measures (agency) 34 227 
			 Provider services—efficiency measures — — 
			 Provider services—procurement 147 185 
			 Provider services—procurement — — 
			 Commissioning—changes in clinical pathways 161 214 
			 Commissioning—changes in clinical pathways — — 
			 Commissioning—changes in clinical pathways — — 
			 Commissioning—pre-authorisation of care (Cons to Cons outpat) 417 625 
			 Commissioning - pre -authorisation of care (delisting) — 320 
			 Commissioning—post billing verification 49 250 
			 Commissioning—post billing verification 48 48 
			 Commissioning—coding issues (assessment units, short stay etc.) 537 805 
			 Commissioning—other (mainly service level agreement block discount) 1,010 1,515 
			 Commissioning—other 42 89 
			 Primary care—prescribing 708 1,036 
			 Primary care—dental 23 100 
			 Primary care—dental — 37 
			 Primary care—review of contracts 38 50 
			 Primary care—review of contracts — — 
			 PCT support—capital 175 505 
			 PCT support—prescribing — — 
			 Unidentified projects — 8,801 
			 Subtotal 4,526 16,343 
			  Source: NPO

Correspondence

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when the Minister of State in her Department will reply to the lettersfrom the hon. Member for Congleton of  (a) 19 July,  (b) 4 October and  (c) 6 December 2006, on the introduction of home information packs.

Yvette Cooper: I have now responded to the hon. Member's correspondence. I apologise for this unacceptable delay.

Council Tax

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations her Department and its predecessor have received on the frequency of council tax revaluations in the last12 months.

Phil Woolas: The Department does not hold a record of representations received about the frequency of council tax revaluations in the last 12 months.

Fire and Rescue Service

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many  (a) work-related and  (b) fire-related injuries were sustained by East Sussex firefighters in each of the last five years.

Angela Smith: The information available is provided in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of East Sussex firefighters injured 
			   At fires  Other work related  Total 
			 2001-02 39 78 117 
			 2002-03 38 53 91 
			 2003-04 70 78 148 
			 2004-05 38 77 115 
			 2005-06 51 72 123 
			  Note:  15 days were lost because of strike action in 2002-03.   Source:  Fire and Rescue Service returns to Communities and Local Government.

Home Information Packs

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost was of the extension to the Home Information Pack dry run.

Yvette Cooper: As we announced on, 21 September 2006, the extension of the Home Information Pack dry run to include six area trials will cost up to £4 million. We will use the funding to ensure that home buyers and sellers in the trial areas understand the benefits of having a full HIP, including a home condition report; to incentivise sellers to buy a HIP; and to employ independent researchers to monitor what is going on so that we get a fully objective picture.

Housing

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what capital receipts have been received by Birmingham city council from Right to Buy sales in each year since 1995-96; what percentage has been  (a) used to repay housing revenue account debt,  (b) pooled and  (c) available for housing investment in Birmingham; and how much financial support has been provided for Birmingham city council's housing capital expenditure.

Yvette Cooper: The following table answers my hon. Friend's questions as far as we are able. The notes explain where we have been unable to make a full answer.
	
		
			  £000 
			   Receipts from Right to Buy (RTB) sales  Housing set-aside( 1)  Pooled receipts arising from sales of dwellings( 2)  Usable housing receipts( 4)  Supported new housing capital expenditure( 5) 
			 1995-96 (6)— 11,799 (7)— (6)— 64,993 
			 1996-97 (6)— 13,440 (7)— (6)— 62,710 
			 1997-98 (6)— 15,432 (7)— (6)— 61,838 
			 1998-99 14,647 16,713 (7)— (6)— 61,815 
			 1999-00 27,275 21,747 (7)— (6)— 60,088 
			 2000-01 35,380 30,640 (7)— (6)— 59,980 
			 2001-02 43,664 35,776 (7)— (6)— 58,016 
			 2002-03 70,382 55,372 (7)— (6)— 55,175 
			 2003-04 85,875 (6)— (7)— (6)— 55,300 
			 2004-05 79,705 0 49,401 22,081 45,051 
			 2005-06 48,785 0 34,146 14,639 47,952 
			 2006-07 (3)21,513 0 (3)15,094 (3)6,41 9 46,914 
			 (1 )Communities and Local Government does not collect data on Right to Buy (RTB) set-aside amounts. Until 2003-04 the data gathered are the total receipts to which set-aside applies for all sales of Housing Revenue Account (HRA) assets. This includes Right to Buy (RTB) sales and also, for example, large or small scale stock transfers and the sale of bare land. For 2003-04, while local authorities will have set aside receipts from all HRA disposals, we only gathered data for receipts generated by large or small scale voluntary transfers. Whether or not a local authority actually used the amounts set-aside to repay debt was a treasury management decision for them. It may have been that it made better financial sense for the local authority to keep a debt on its books and invest the set-aside elsewhere, rather than redeem the debt early and face early redemption penalties.  (2) Central Government only began receiving housing receipts in 2004-05. Before then, local authorities were required instead to set aside a proportion of their housing receipts. For 2004-05 onwards, figures include retained capital receipts arising from the sales of all dwellings, not just Right to Buy.  (3) Figures for 2006-07 are only for the first two quarters. Figures for the third and fourth quarters will not be known until February and May this year respectively.  (4) Before 2004-05, the Department did not collect data on the amount of receipts retained by local authorities. For years since then, figures include retained capital receipts arising from the sales of all dwellings, not just Right to Buy.  (5) Figures show the amount of additional housing capital expenditure for which central Government supports through HRA subsidy.  (6) Not available.  (7 )Not applicable.

Islamic Extremists

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding her Department has provided to local authorities in large cities to monitor for Islamic extremists, broken down by local authority; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The monitoring of Islamist extremists, which is the role of the Police and Security Services, is not something that Communities and Local Government (CLG) provides money to support.
	CLG continues to work closely with local authorities and community organisations to build the capacity of Muslim communities to robustly challenge the ideasof violent extremists who seek to undermine our way of life, and some £5 million of funding for 2007-08 is being made available for local authorities to take forward a programme of activities to tackle violent extremism at a local level.

Leeds: Local Planning Authority

Paul Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the performance of Leeds as a local planning authority.

Yvette Cooper: My Department publishes quarterly statistics on local planning authorities' performance in terms of the time taken to determine planning applications and, together with Government offices, tracks whether or not they are on course to meet our PSA6 (Local Government's PSA 11) targets by March 2007. Where authorities are identified as being at high risk of failing to meet the targets, my officials ask the Planning Advisory Service (PAS) to offer them tailored support. Where this offer is accepted, the first step is for a PAS consultant to undertake a diagnostic visit.
	My officials together with Government offices also monitor performance on the preparation of local development frameworks against the timetables that local authorities have set out in their local development schemes.
	In addition, the Audit Commission undertakes periodic inspections of individual local authorities' planning services where, for example, the Audit Commission's relationship manager considers there is cause for concern.
	In 2003 Leeds city council was identified as a Planning Standards Authority for major and other types of application. As part of this process, my Department commissioned consultants to visit the planning authority and assess its planning performance. Since then Leeds has made progress towards the PSA6 targets.

Local Government

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the annual percentage change was in central Government grant provided to Hull city council in each year since 1990.

Phil Woolas: The annual percentage changes in central Government grant provided to Hull city council in each year since 1990 are shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Percentage change 
			 1991-92 -5.2 
			 1992-93 30.9 
			 1993-94 -80.6 
			 1994-95 1.4 
			 1995-96 -3.2 
			 1996-97 534.3 
			 1997-98 1.6 
			 1998-99 5.2 
			 1999-2000 5.9 
			 2000-01 7.6 
			 2001-02 7.9 
			 2002-03 6.4 
			 2003-04 12.7 
			 2004-05 1.3 
			 2005-06 5.6 
			  Source: Communities and Local Government Revenue Outturn Summary (RS) returns 
		
	
	Owing to reorganisation, and consequent changes to local authority responsibilities or methods of funding, direct comparisons are not valid across all years. In particular, before 1993-94 payments were made into the Hull city collection fund in respect of Hull city council and Humberside county council. Between 1993-94 and 1995-96, payments made to Hull city are for that council only. From 1996-97, payments have been made to Kingston-upon-Hull unitary authority.
	The definition of central Government grant used here is the sum of specific grants inside Aggregate External Finance (i.e. revenue grants paid for councils' core services), and formula grant (revenue support grant and redistributed business rates). In past years, where applicable the SSA reduction grant, police grant, and central support protection grants have also been included.
	Figures exclude capital grants, funding for local authorities' housing management responsibilities and those grant programmes (such as European funding) where authorities are simply one of the recipients of funding paid towards an area.

Local Government Finance: Wandsworth

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much and what proportion of central funding for London boroughs was allocated to Wandsworth council in each of the last 10 years; and what the average allocation was in each year.

Phil Woolas: The proportion of central funding for all London boroughs allocated to Wandsworth council in each of the last 10 years is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Percentage 
			 1996-97 3.9 
			 1997-98 3.8 
			 1998-99 3.6 
			 1999-2000 3.5 
			 2000-01 3.4 
			 2001-02 3.3 
			 2002-03 3.2 
			 2003-04 3.3 
			 2004-05 3.2 
			 2005-06 3.1 
			  Source: Communities and Local Government Revenue Outturn Summary (RS) returns 
		
	
	The definition of central funding used here is the sum of specific government grants inside aggregate external finance (ie revenue grants paid for councils' core services), and formula grant (revenue support grant and redistributed business rates). In past years, where applicable the SSA reduction grant, police grant, and central support protection grants have also been included.
	Figures exclude capital grants, funding for local authorities' housing management responsibilities and those grant programmes (such as European funding) where authorities are simply one of the recipients of funding paid towards an area.
	The London borough total excludes the City of London.

Open Space Works

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the estimated cost is of her Department's Open Space Works programme.

Angela Smith: The Open Space Works project will introduce full open plan accommodation for Communities and Local Government's HQ staff. It is currently forecast to cost £7.9 million (ex VAT). The project will allow Communities and Local Government to accommodate London HQ staff in two buildings. Savings are forecast to pay back the investment in 2.4 years and to deliver savings of £3.5 million/annum beyond that.

Rough Sleeping

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what measures are in place  (a) to maintain and  (b) to audit the accuracy of her Department's estimates of rough sleeping.

Yvette Cooper: The Prime Minister's target to reduce rough sleeping by two thirds from 1998 levels was met ahead of time in 2001 and is now 73 per cent. lower and being sustained. My officials work closely with local authorities to ensure that levels of rough sleeping remain low and are further reduced through implementation of their homelessness strategies, required under the Homelessness Act 2002.
	Local authorities undertake rough sleeping countsin accordance with guidance developed by the Department in association with the voluntary sector. Departmental officials also attend many counts and we are in the process of extending independent verification to cover all counts undertaken. Local authorities submit the outcome of a count, or their estimate, in their housing strategy and statistical appendix each year. It is these local authority figures that are published each September in the national rough sleeping estimate. Independent evaluations have confirmed the overall reduction since 1997. In addition we are looking at other ways to assess wider homelessness which may not be captured by the current count methods.

Shared-ownership Housing

Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which housing associations required buyers to purchase outright a share greater than 75 per cent. in shared-ownership housing developments in the last 24 months.

Yvette Cooper: Properties which are grant funded by the Housing Corporation are not offered for sale with a requirement to purchase above 75 per cent.
	Some Housing Associations may offer different terms on schemes provided with their own funding,but the Department for Communities and Local Government do not collect information on the terms and conditions of these schemes because they are not grant funded.

Super Output Areas

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the population is of each of the lower layer super output areas listed in the answer to question reference 68496; what the 10 most deprived lower layer super output areas are in  (a) England and  (b) the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The following table lists the number of people in each lower layer super output area (LSOA) given in answer to question reference 68496. A total of 293,746 people live in these LSOAs.
	
		
			  SOA code  Local authority name  Government office region  Rank of IMD( 1)  Population 2004 
			 E01029046 Mendip South West 4,318 1,249 
			 E01029062 Mendip South West 5,071 1,301 
			 E01029042 Mendip South West 8,270 1,592 
			 E01029048 Mendip South West 8,944 1,245 
			 E01029106 Sedgemoor South West 2,580 1,628 
			 E01029100 Sedgemoor South West 4,344 1,457 
			 E01029132 Sedgemoor South West 4,545 1,429 
			 E01029109 Sedgemoor South West 5,611 1,457 
			 E01029107 Sedgemoor South West 5,982 1,486 
			 E01029112 Sedgemoor South West 6,755 1,488 
			 E01029111 Sedgemoor South West 7,280 1,810 
			 E01029095 Sedgemoor South West 7,321 1,412 
			 E01029110 Sedgemoor South West 7,717 1,636 
			 E01029098 Sedgemoor South West 7,947 1,385 
			 E01029099 Sedgemoor South West 8,588 1,377 
			 E01029105 Sedgemoor South West 8,959 1,410 
			 E01029097 Sedgemoor South West 9,086 1,522 
			 E01029096 Sedgemoor South West 9,310 1,383 
			 E01029116 Sedgemoor South West 9,513 1,535 
			 E01029131 Sedgemoor South West 9,605 1,549 
			 E01029234 South Somerset South West 5,363 1,517 
			 E01029247 South Somerset South West 5,715 1,578 
			 E01029239 South Somerset South West 5,855 1,388 
			 E01029236 South Somerset South West 7,883 1,515 
			 E01029233 South Somerset South West 8,442 1,517 
			 E01029170 South Somerset South West 8,974 1,216 
			 E01029237 South Somerset South West 9,065 1,434 
			 E01029293 Taunton Deane South West 3,349 1,700 
			 E01029297 Taunton Deane South West 4,923 1,347 
			 E01029292 Taunton Deane South West 4,928 1,524 
			 E01029299 Taunton Deane South West 7,840 1,511 
			 E01029311 Taunton Deane South West 8,606 1,491 
			 E01029280 Taunton Deane South West 8,623 1,638 
			 E01029286 Taunton Deane South West 9,112 1,414 
			 E01029307 Taunton Deane South West 9,628 1,467 
			 E01029344 West Somerset South West 7,397 1,206 
			 E01029339 West Somerset South West 8,303 1,418 
			 E01029341 West Somerset South West 8,835 1,384 
			 E01029326 West Somerset South West 9,504 1,251 
			 E01029333 West Somerset South West 9,655 1,312 
			 (1) Where 1 is most deprived. 
		
	
	The 10 most deprived SOAs in England are:
	
		
			  SOA code  Local authority name  Ward name  GOR name  Rank of IMD 
			 E01006559 Liverpool Breckfield North West 1 
			 E01005204 Manchester Harpurhey North West 2 
			 E01006755 Liverpool Speke North West 3 
			 E01005133 Manchester Central North West 4 
			 E01005203 Manchester Harpurhey North West 5 
			 E01005067 Manchester Ardwick North West 6 
			 E01006468 Knowsley Princess North West 7 
			 E01006676 Liverpool Granby North West 8 
			 E01005202 Manchester Harpurhey North West 9 
			 E01006561 Liverpool Breckfield North West 10 
		
	
	The most deprived LSOA in England is E01006559, which is located within the Breckfield ward in Liverpool. All 10 of the most deprived SOAs in the country are located in the North West.
	As there is no UK-wide Index of Deprivation, it is not possible to identify the 10 most deprived LSOAsin the UK. Each of the four nations produces theirown Indices of Deprivation, which are all slightly different thus making it impossible to directly compare them.

Unitary Status

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether she plans to extend the time limits for councils to applyfor unitary status under the provisions of the Government's Invitation to Councils in England; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The Government consider that requiring councils to submit proposals by 25 January gave them sufficient time and we do not intend to extend the deadline for the receipt of proposals.

Wind Turbines

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will list the applications for land-based wind turbines which have been  (a) rejected and  (b) approved by her Department since 1997, broken down by constituency.

Meg Munn: The information requested has been incorporated into a table, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House. Reliable data is only available from April 2000. Information on the location of proposals by Westminster parliamentary constituency is not collected centrally but has been estimated using postcodes and grid references where available. A map showing the locations of relevant decisions has also been provided.